A 

Jo- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


AX 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE  ENGLISH  TURF 


||  iififf"  THE 

ENGLISH   TURF 

A    RECORD    OF    HORSES 
AND    COURSES    BY 

CHARLES    RICHARDSON 


EDITED   BY   E.   T.   SACHS 


WITH     FORTY-NINE     ILLUSTRATIONS     AND     EIGHT     PLANS 


NEW   YORK 

DODD      MEAD     &      CO. 

LONDON  :    METHUEN  &  CO. 

1901 


TO 

THE   RIGHT   HONOURABLE 
THE    EARL    OF    DURHAM 

AS  A   STAUNCH  UPHOLDER 
OF  THE  HONOUR  AND  WELFARE  OF 

THE    TURF 

THIS  VOLUME    IS    BY    PERMISSION 
DEDICATED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

years ;  but  to-day  the  foundation  is  solid,  and  that  which 
is  erected  thereon  will  last  long. 

Such  a  period  cannot  be  otherwise  than  propitious  for  the 
production  of  a  work  in  which  every  subject  is  dealt  with 
that  can  interest  those  who,  in  one  form  or  another,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  find  an  attraction  in  the  Turf.  Books 
about  racing  have  a  not  unnatural  habit  of  being  reminiscent : 
here,  for  a  change,  is  one  that  deals  with  things  as  they  are. 
That  entirely  new  ground  is  broken  will  be  at  once  apparent 
to  those  conversant  with  racing  literature.  For  one  thing 
a  work  of  this  nature  has  previously  not  been  possible, 
because  the  conditions  favourable  to  its  compilation  have  not 
existed ;  but  no  one  has  even  attempted  the  comprehensive 
task  which  the  author  has  accomplished.  The  reader  has  set 
before  him  the  characteristics  of  every  racecourse  in  England, 
and  of  the  racing  that  each  year  takes  place  upon  it. 
Although  less  numerous  than  they  were  half  a  century  ago, 
English  racecourses  are  still  many,  and  no  two  are  alike 
either  in  conformation  or  in  the  sport  provided  and  its 
management.  These  are  the  details  which  receive  treatment, 
the  writer's  wide  personal  experience  being  in  every  case 
brought  into  play.  References  to  the  actors  upon  the  stage, 
human  and  equine,  form  a  natural  corollary.  When  we  read 
about  historical  racecourses  we  like  to  hear  of  the  celebrated 
races  associated  with  them  and  of  the  great  horses  that 
earned  their  reputations  by  winning  them. 

An  exhaustive  account  of  the  principal  races  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  would  alone  involve  a  series  of  volumes  longer 
than  any  encyclopaedia  yet  published,  and  as  this  volume 
deals  with  the  Turf  as  it  is,  j  ust  enough  reference  to  the  past, 
and  no  more,  is  made  to  enable  some  sort  of  comparison  to 
be  made  between  the  horses  of  the  present  and  of  former 
generations.  In  the  case  of  horses  such  comparisons  are 
far  from  being  vain,  and  where  the  constant  improvement  of 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

the  thoroughbred  is  the  object  in  view  there  should  be  no 
hesitation  in  entering  light-heartedly  upon  the  domain  of 
polemics.  The  breeding,  training,  and  racing  of  thorough- 
breds are  matters  of  really  national  importance,  so  numerous 
and  weighty  are  the  interests  involved,  though  they  may  not 
become  at  once  apparent  through  mere  visits  to  the  race- 
course as  a  spectator.  In  the  production  of  the  best  possible 
horse  some  of  the  cleverest  minds  of  the  world  are  constantly 
engaged,  and  even  Governments  deem  the  matter  one 
worthy  of  serious  official  solicitude. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  author  has  much  to  say  upon  questions 
of  breeding,  as  also  upon  what  are  considered  to  be  serious 
faults  in  our  racing  scheme,  the  tendency  of  which  is  to 
foster  the  wrong  kind  of  horse.  These  are  among  the  most- 
discussed  Turf  questions  of  the  day,  as  they  have  been  in  the 
past  and  will  remain  in  the  future.  They  will  appeal  to 
everyone,  the  uninitiated  as  well  as  the  initiated,  and,  for  the 
benefit  of  all  but  the  very  few  ardent  students  of  breeding 
lore  who  have  delved  into  the  obscure  records  of  the  past, 
the  strains  of  blood  from  which  the  great  horses  of  the 
generation,  as  of  previous  generations,  are  descended,  and 
generations  to  come  will  be,  are  traced  from  the  very  be- 
ginning. To  those  who  can  have  but  a  vague  notion  of  how 
the  breed  of  English  thoroughbred,  which,  in  its  turn,  has 
founded  the  successful  strains  of  the  continents  of  Europe 
and  America,  not  forgetting  Australia,  was  derived,  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  interesting  to  trace  how  the  magnificent, 
far-striding,  sixteen-hand  animal  of  the  day  has  been  evolved 
out  of  the  original  stock  of  less  than  a  dozen  Eastern 
stallions,  who  were  little  more  than  mere  ponies,  and  the 
native  mares  such  as  then  existed,  which  were  the  outcome 
of  more  remote  crossings  of  Arabians  with  the  earlier  British 
horse,  whose  history  it  is  impossible  to  trace.  This  is 
evolution  indeed,  and  it  forms  a  fitting  testimonial  to  the 


x  INTRODUCTION 

unremitting  care  which  generations  of  horse-breeders  have 
bestowed  upon  the  task.  A  horse-breeder  implies  a  lover 
of  horses,  and  to  be  such  is  an  Englishman's  prerogative 
that  is  born  with  him.  In  the  following  pages  the  horse- 
lover  will  find  himself  at  home. 

The  author  is  anxious  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to 
several  gentlemen  for  the  invaluable  assistance  rendered  him 
in  supplying  materials  for  illustration.  The  numerous  beauti- 
ful photographs  supplied  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Rouch,  who  has  made 
this  line  of  work  his  own,  need  no  recommendation  other 
than  themselves.  They  present  a  series  of  pictures  that 
illustrate  our  racecourses  in  a  way  which  could  not  otherwise 
be  accomplished.  Messrs.  W.  C.  and  A.  S.  Manning,  architects 
to  the  Jockey  Club,  Newmarket,  have  been  at  great  pains 
in  furnishing  a  minutely  detailed  plan  of  the  Newmarket 
Racecourses  ;  to  Mr.  H.  M.  Dorling  the  kindly  provision  of 
the  Epsom  plans  is  due ;  whilst  equal  kindness  has  been 
shown  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Gladstone,  in  the  case  of  the  Aintree 
Course,  Mr.  W.  F.  I.  Dundas,  Clerk  of  the  Course  at 
Goodwood,  and  by  Mr.  W.  H.  R.  Crabtree,  Borough 
Surveyor  of  Doncaster,  in  supplying  the  plan  of  the  historical 
course  of  that  town. 

THE   EDITOR 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE   POSITION  OF  THE  TURF 

The  sport  commanding  attention — Press  reports  in  increased  demand — 
Sporting  papers — Reporting  races — Starting  prices — Telegraphing — In- 
creased number  of  owners — Demand  for  yearlings — American  importations 
— Mr.  Haggin's  consignment — English  breeders — Too  many  short  races — 
Sprinters  —  The  late  Duke  of  Westminster  and  the  sale  of  Ormonde  — 
Austrian  and  German  buyers  of  blood-stock — Roaring — Unsoundness — 
Soundness  of  Colonial  horses  —  Merman  —  Newhaven  II. — Breeding  of 
Colonial  and  American  horses — Duke  of  Portland  and  Carbine — Stamina 
of  foreign-bred  horses — Horse  of  the  century — Experts  differ — St.  Simon 
and  Ormonde  —  The  time  test — Grand  National  times,  Manifesto  and 
Cloister— Derby  times — Sires  put  to  stud  too  young— Sire  fees — Owners 
of  present  day — Millionaires — Professional  owners  .  .  Pages  1-23 


CHAPTER  II 
NEWMARKET 

Former  meetings  now  defunct — Changes  caused  by  railway  system — Cathedral 
town  fixtures — Number  of  horses  in  training — Comparison  with  former 
years — Newmarket — Description  thereof — Exorbitant  charges — "  Hang  the 
good  gallop  " — G.E.  Railway  specials — Advice  to  visitors — Cost  of  potatoes 
and  walking-stick — Countryman  visiting  London — Londoner  visiting  Don- 
caster — Discomforts  of  country  meetings — A  hotel  experience — Generosity 
of  bookmakers — Newmarket  training  grounds  before  breakfast — Road  from 
London  to  Newmarket— Six  Mile  Bottom— The  "Ditch  "—View  obtainable 
therefrom — The  racecourse — The  stands — The  town — Runaway  brougham — 
The  "Severals" — Bury  Hills — Limekilns — Watching  the  morning  work — 
"Courses  for  horses" — Number  of  meetings  held — Craven  Meeting — Good 
and  bad  years  of  certain  stables — The  travelling  tout  who  wished  to  be 
cremated — First  Spring  Meeting — Second  Spring  Meeting — Newmarket 
Stakes — First  July  Meeting — Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes — Second  July — 
First  October — Two  best  meetings  of  the  year — Second  October  Meeting 
— The  chief  prizes — Houghton  Meeting — Description  of  courses — Beacon 
Course  dissected — Turn  of  the  Lands — A.F. — Rowley  Mile — Big  days — 
The  July  Course  —  Suitable  for  long-distance  races — Newmarket  pro- 
grammes analysed — Five-furlong  racing — Disadvantages  of— Stewards  of 
the  Jockey  Club — Setting  their  house  in  order  .  .  Pages  24-62 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III 
ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD 

Ascot  the  most  important  meeting  of  the  year — Star  performers — The  course 
— The  best  and  worst  of  it — State  of  going — Suggestions  for  improving 
the  run-in — Analysis  of  programme — The  gradients — The  Cup  Course — 
Old  and  new  miles — The  stands  badly  placed — Value  of  the  stakes — The 
Goodwood  Course — Comparison  with  Newmarket — Straight  miles — None 
at  Goodwood — Date  of  fixture — Low  charges — Two-year-old  racing — 
Panorama  from  stands  and  paddock — Birdless  Grove  —  Distance  from 
London — Chichester — Neighbouring  villages — Places  available  for  visitors 
to  meeting — Drive  from  London — Cabs  and  vans — Road  from  Chichester 
— Chain-horses — Queen's  Plate  Course — Cup  Course — Other  courses  used 
— Goodwood  Programme — Value  of  stakes — Analysis  of  programme — 
Stabling  dear — Two  trainers'  bills  for  meeting — Goodwood  Cup — Winners 
thereof  .;"  ."  .  -  .'^  .  Pages  63-87 

CHAPTER  IV 
EPSOM 

Importance  of  Epsom — Size  of  crowd — Derby  winner  as  best  of  his  year 
— Some  recent  winners — Galtee  More — Persimmon — Sir  Visto — Isinglass — 
Ladas — Sir  Hugo — Common — Sainfoin — Ayrshire — Donovan — Jeddah — 
Flying  Fox  —  His  pedigree  and  ancestors — Performances — Defeats  and 
victories — Three-year-old  career  of  Flying  Fox — The  great  sale  at  Kings- 
clere — Description  of  Flying  Fox — Prince  of  Wales'  second  Derby — 
Diamond  Jubilee — His  singular  two-year-old  career — Comes  out  an  im- 
proved three-year-old — How  he  won  the  Guineas — What  happened  on 
the  Newmarket  Stakes  day — Race  for  the  Derby — Poor  Forfarshire — 
Description  of  Epsom  Course — Scene  on  the  hill — National  carnival — 
Epsom  stands — Advantage  of  horses  sometimes  running  on  steep  gradients 
— Other  Epsom  courses — The  Metropolitan  Course — The  Epsom  pro- 
gramme— Value  of  stakes — Two-year-old  events — The  City  and  Suburban 
— Railway  arrangements — Special  trains — Charges  .  .  Pages  8&-nS 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS 

Yorkshire  as  a  home  of  racing — Old  Yorkshire  meetings — Durham  Races — 
Curious  accident — Scarborough  Races — Raid  on  the  stands — Yorkshire 
owners — Malton  and  Middleham — Supply  of  horses — South-country  platers 
at  Northern  meetings — Lord  Durham  astonished — Doncaster  Races — Run 
by  the  Corporation — Appearance  of  course — St.  Leger  Course — Cup  Course 
— Spring  Meeting — Attendances  at  September  Meeting — Doncaster  crowd 
compared  with  that  of  Epsom — Cheap  transit  to  course — Too  much 
butter-scotch — Excursionists — Yorkshire  critics — Northern  opinion — Don- 
caster  programme — Distance  of  races — Value  of  stakes — York  Races — 
Retrospective — "Cross  and  jostle" — Story  of  Archer  and  Snowden — Dates 
of  meetings — August  fixture — Its  importance — Ebor  Handicap — Some  of  its 
winners. — Luncheon  to  huntsmen — John  Osborne  chaffed — The  jockey  gets 
the  best  of  it — Great  Yorkshire  Stakes — St.  Leger  winners  beaten  therein 
— Tom  Cannon's  riding  of  Ossory — The  Gimcrack  Stakes — Gimcrack's 
defeats — Minor  Yorkshire  meetings — Stockton  and  its  programme — Redcar 
Races — A  capital  course — Proposal  to  alter  fixture  list — Saltburn-on- 
the-Sea  and  Redcar  as  health  resorts — Pontefract — Beverley — Ripon — 
Catterick  Bridge— The  real  Goodwood  of  the  North  .  Pages  119-148 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  VI 
OTHER   COUNTRY   MEETINGS 

Hybrid  meetings — Bath — Former  importance — Rivalry  with  York — Brighton 
Races  —  The  course  —  Lewes  —  The  Southdown  Club  —  Harpenden  — 
Salisbury — The  Bibury  Club — Northampton — Worcester — Yarmouth  — 
Old-time  circuits — Present-day  round  of  racing — Chester  Races — The 
Chester  Cup — Its  popularity — The  queer  course — Something  about  the 
programme — Lincoln  Races — The  Lincolnshire  Handicap — Big  attendance 
— Victory  of  Clorane — The  Brocklesby — Liverpool — The  Grand  National 
crowd — Concerning  the  Grand  National  Course — Its  peculiarities — Ex- 
ceptional fencing — Cloister's  performance — Death  of  The  Lamb — Cloister 
and  Manifesto  compared — Other  recent  winners — Manifesto  and  Ambush  II. 
— Liverpool  Spring  Meeting — The  Summer  fixture — The  Autumn  Cup — 
Carlisle — Croxton  Park — Newton— Warwick  .  .  Pages  149-173 

CHAPTER  VII 
MODERN   ENCLOSED  COURSES 

Rise  of  modern  enclosures — Sandown  Park — Ladies  as  race-goers — Inaugu- 
rators  of  mammoth  prizes — The  Eclipse  Stakes  considered — Winners  of 
the  Eclipse  Stakes — Orme  and  La  Fleche — Orme's  St.  Leger — George 
Barrett's  orders — Field  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes  in  1894 — Value  thereof — 
Other  events  run  at  Sandown — As  to  the  course — The  Steeplechase  Course 
— Racing  at  Kempton  Park — Its  principal  meetings — The  Jubilee  Stakes 
— Bendigo  and  Minting — Other  winners  of  the  race — Victor  Wild — The 
people's  horse — His  great  popularity — Clwyd's  victory — Discreditable  cir- 
cumstances— Hurst  Park — Always  good  going — Eager  and  Royal  Flush 
— Gatwick  and  Lingfield — Cup  Course  at  Gatwick — Harrow's  record — 
Alexandra  Park  Races — Portsmouth  Park — Midland  enclosures — Derby 
fixtures — Leicester — Objection  to  Racing  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
residents — Colwick  Park — Birmingham — Well-placed  stands — Upper 
section  of  Turf  world — Manchester — Hotel  accommodation — The  racecourse 
— St.  'Angelo's  mishap — Stories  of  the  late  Duchess  of  Montrose — Pro- 
grammes— Manchester  Cup — Winners  of  Lancashire  Plate — Gosforth  Park, 
its  grand  course — The  Northumberland  Plate — Barcaldine  —  His  great 
performance — Underhand — Caller  Ou — The  Seaton  Delaval  Stakes — 
Scottish  racing  .  .  .  *  Pages  174-216 

CHAPTER  VIII 
TRAINERS,  TRAINING  GROUNDS,  AND  JOCKEYS 

Smartness  of  modern  trainers — Their  various  duties — "Placing" — Price  of 
training — Trainer's  knowledge  as  to  his  horse's  chance  of  winning — Stable 
lads— Apprentices— Jockeys — Comparison  of  old-time  with  present  jockeys 
— Brains  necessary — As  advisers  to  stable — Cupidity  and  its  results — Earn- 
ings— Handsome  retainers — Newmarket  as  a  training  quarter — Good  and 
bad  years — Typical  good  year — Reasons  why  owners  train  at  Newmarket 
— Notable  Newmarket  trainers — American  trainers  at  Newmarket — Their 
wonderful  successes — "  Doping" — Royal  Flush — Gentlemen  trainers — Mr. 
George  Lambton — Captain  Beatty — Kingsclere — John  Porter's  winnings 
in  stake  money — The  Cannons — Danebury — Garlogs— Berkshire  and  Wilt- 
shire trainers — Sam  Darling's  classic  successes — Kilcock — Galtee  More — 
W.  Robinson's  handicap  successes — The  Taylors  of  Manton — Dorsetshire 
trainers — Sir  Charles  Nugent — Mr.  George  Thursby — Sussex  stables — 


xiv  CONTENTS 

Epsom  trainers — The  Midlands — Exton  Park — Hednesford — Stanton — 
Royston — Thetford — Mr.  Musker's  successes  with  two-year-olds — Northern 
and  Southern  rivalry — Elsey  of  Baumber — Yorkshire  training  grounds — 
Malton — William  I'Anson — His  successes — Self- Sacrifice — Her  St.  Leger 
trial — Chittabob — I'Anson's  purchases  of  platers  '  .  Pages  217-266 


CHAPTER  IX 
BREEDING 

Uncertainty  of  breeding  thoroughbreds — Unaccountable  barrenness  in  mares 
— Proportion  of  foals  to  mares — Half-bred  foals  more  hardy — Practice  of 
early  stinting — The  result  of  two-year-old  racing — Noted  two-year-old 
winners — Four-figure  yearlings — A  big  lottery — The  prices — La  Fleche, 
Doncaster,  and  St.  Simon — Table  of  the  failures — Wealthy  owners  the 
cause  of  high  prices — How  they  go  to  work  at  sales — No  yearling  worth 
more  than  1,000  guineas  —  Fashionable  blood — The  figure  system  — 
Bargains  in  ready-made  racehorses — Good  ones  bought  out  of  Selling 
Plates — Dispersal  of  big  studs  and  private  sales  .  .  Pages  267-280 


CHAPTER  X 
LINES   OF   BLOOD 

Evolution  of  the  English  thoroughbred — Its  origin  from  the  East — Arabs, 
Barbs,  Turks,  and  Persians — Wonderful  increase  in  size — Stamina  greater 
in  Eastern  breeds — Speed  a  modern  development — Stayers  more  numerous 
than  suspected — Four-mile  heats  v.  sprints — The  limit  of  pedigrees — The 
descent  of  Eclipse  goes  back  to  Eastern  sires — Their  mating  with  native 
mares — Royal  mares — Table  showing  pedigree  of  Eclipse — In-breeding — 
Lord  d'Arcy's  importations — Noted  descendants  of  Eclipse  —  The  Bird- 
catcher  line — Isonomy — Isinglass — Janissary — The  Stockwell  line — Blair 
Athol — Ormonde,  Orme,  and  Goldfinch — Kendal  and  Ormonde — Which 
was  the  better  ? — Their  private  trial — Galtee  More  well  sold  for  ^"20,000 
— Handsomest  thoroughbred  of  modern  times — Melton — Line  of  Camel 
—  The  Newminster  family — Hermit — His  extraordinary  stud  career — 
Characteristics  of  his  stock — Hermit  mares  as  breeders — The  Hampton 
family — Bought  out  of  a  Selling  Race — His  great  race  for  the  Northumber- 
land Plate — Some  of  his  descendants — The  Touchstone  line — Line  of 
Tramp — His  ancestors  and  descendants — A  line  to  be  encouraged — Line 
of  Blacklock — The  best  staying  family  of  to-day — King  Fergus— Hamble- 
tonian — Whitelock — The  St.  Simon-Galopin  family  out  of  a  £3  mare 
—Descriptions  of  Blacklock— Voltigeur— Galopin— St.  Simon— The  St. 
Simons  as  galloping  machines — St.  Simon's  career — Ormonde  or  St. 


Simon  the  better  horse? — Persimmon — Coupled  with  Harkaway  as  the 
horse  of  the  century — Line  of  Herod — Four  celebrated  lines  of  descendants 
— Line  of  Godolphin — Matchem  to  Barcaldine — West  Australian — The  pick 
of  England — Winning  stock  of  Barcaldine  .  .  Pages  281-333 


INDEX  .....  Page  335 


LIST  OF  PLANS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


ASCOT — 

The  Royal  Procession  and  Royal  Enclosure  .         .     Frontispiece 

NEWMARKET—  FACING  PAGE 
Tattersall's  Sale  Ring,  Park  Paddocks 

Jockey  Club  Rooms             .  24 

Waiting  at  the  Bushes         .  32 

The  Ditch  overlooking  July  Course    .  3^ 

Dining  Room,  Jockey  Club  •         •       3^ 

Rowley  Mile  Stand  and  Paddock       .  .         .       42 

Jockey  Club  Stand,  July  Course         .  .         .       48 

Looking  across  the  July  Course  •         •       5° 

Plan  of  the  Racecourses      .                 .  •         •       52 

ASCOT — 

Plan  of  the  Racecourse 

Number  Board  (Royal  Enclosure) 

The  Stands :  before  the  Gold  Cup      .  >•        •       7° 

The  Paddock       ." 

GOODWOOD— 

The  Racecourse  .  »         •       76 

Plan  of  the  Racecourse      * 

Private  Stand,  Tattersall's,  and  Trundle  Hill    .  .        .       80 

The  Grand  Stand 

The  Lawn  •    '  •.      -       86 

EPSOM — 

Plan  of  the  Old  Course 

Plan  of  the  Racecourse       .  v  •         •       9& 

The  Hill  .  .         .     108 

The  Paddock  (The  Favourite  for  the  Oaks)       .  .        .     114 

DONCASTER — 

The  Stands          .  .  .  124 

Plan  of  the  Racecourse       .  .                 .                             .  .  126 

Before  the  St.  Leger  Parade  .                 .                             .  .  128 

Numbers  up  for  the  St.  Leger  .                .                 .             .  .  130 

The  Red  House  .  .  .  134 

STOCKBRIDGE  .  •     J54 

xv 


xvi  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

CHESTER —  FACING  PAGE 

The  Old  Stands  .  .-  •  :.  :  .  .                      .  158 

AlNTREE — 

The  Racecourse  .  ,  .  .  .             .         .162 

Plan  of  the  Racecourse  .  .  '    ,  .             .         .166 

A  Grand  National  Fence  .  -•,-—•  •  •  •  •  170 
SANDOWN — 

The  Stands         ..  ,.  .  .  .            ,         .174 

Members' Lawn  and  Royal  Box  .  ,  .  .         .176 

The  Paddock       .  .  .  .  '          ,.    .     .  182 

KEMPTON — 

Rear  of  the  Stand  .,  ,  ,.  .  /','           .         .  186 

The  Jubilee  Bend  ,,  .  ,:  •  ^V.-         .         .  190 

HURST  PARK — 

The  Straight        .             '".  .  ...^  .        'M  '•.*'     .  192 

GATWICK — 

The  Paddock  .  .  ,  ,,  '•.  >.';  ,'  .  ££».>;  .  194 
LlNGFIELD — 

The  Stands        .  .  .  .  .  .             .  196 

Members'  Lawn  .  .  .  .  ...  198 

DERBY — 

The  Stands,  from  the  Cricket  Ground  .  .  198 
NOTTINGHAM — 

Colwick  Park      .  .  .  .  ...  202 

MANCHESTER— 

The  Paddock       .  .  .  .  ...  208 

Plan  of  the  New  Course  .  .  .  .             .         .  212 

Bend  Or      ......        -^  v    .  268 

La  Fleche  in  the  Sale  Ring  ....        *???£*  •    ,  272 

Kendal        ......        r; '/;*<     t  276 

Victor  Wild                 .  .  .  .  .  278 

Isinglass      .                 .  .  .  .  ...  290 

Orme           .                 .  .  .  .  ...  292 

Galtee  More                .  .  .  .  ...  294 

Hampton    .                 .  .  .  .  ...  302 

St.  Simon   .                 .  .  .  .  ...  318 

Persimmon .                 .  .  .  .  ...  322 

Clorane       .                 .  .  .  ...  326 


THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

CHAPTER  I 
THE   POSITION   OF  THE  TURF 


The  sport  commanding  attention — Press  reports  in  increased  demand — Sporting 
papers — Reporting  races — Starting  prices — Telegraphing — Increased  number 
of  owners — Demand  for  yearlings — American  importations — Mr.  Haggin's 
consignment — English  breeders — Too  many  short  races — Sprinters— The  late 
Duke  of  Westminster  and  the  sale  of  Ormonde — Austrian  and  German 
buyers  of  blood-stock  —  Roaring — Unsoundness — Soundness  of  Colonial 
horses  —  Merman  —  Newhaven  II.  —  Breeding  of  Colonial  and  American 
horses — Duke  of  Portland  and  Carbine — Stamina  of  foreign-bred  horses — 
Horse  of  the  century — Experts  differ — St.  Simon  and  Ormonde — The  time 
test — Grand  National  times,  Manifesto  and  Cloister — Derby  times — Sires 
put  to  stud  too  young — Sire  fees — Owners  of  present  day — Millionaires — 
Professional  owners. 

THERE  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying  that  the  sport  of 
horse-racing  never  before  commanded  the  attention 
that  is  now  accorded  to  it ;  and  the  many  measures  of 
radical  reform  that  have  been  introduced  of  late  years  have 
tended,  and  are  still  further  tending,  to  render  the  sport 
clean  and  healthy,  and  so  fit  for  universal  participation. 

As  regards  the  attention  which  racing  receives  from  the 
general  public  I  have  only  to  point  to  the  Press  reports 
and  criticisms,  which  have  more  than  quadrupled  within 
my  own  experience.  Less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  daily  sporting  newspaper, 
and  racing  was  passed  over  so  lightly  in  the  London  non- 
sporting  dailies  that  it  was  impossible  to  find  the  bare 
return  of  many  provincial  meetings  until  the  Sheet  Calendar 
appeared,  or  until  the  Saturday  weeklies  supplied  the  news. 


2  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

I  remember,  in  my  schoolboy  days,  being  in  London  at 
Easter,  and  much  interested  in  a  horse  which  was  to  run 
at  Durham  on  Easter  Monday.  No  account  of  Durham 
races  was  forthcoming  in  the  London  newspapers  on  the 
following  morning,  and  in  those  days  provincial  news- 
papers did  not  reach  London  until  late  in  the  evening, 
and  even  then  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  obtain  them.  I 
spent  an  hour  or  two  among  the  West  End  newsagents, 
and  overhauled  a  great  number  of  papers,  but  only  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  result  of  the  race  by  paying  a  visit  to  a 
certain  public-house — the  name  of  which  I  forget — situated 
somewhere  off  the  Farringdon  Road,  to  which  I  was  recom- 
mended by  the  proprietor  of  a  newspaper  shop  in  Pall  Mall 
Place.  That  was  in  the  days  of  the  lists,  and  the  publican 
to  whom  I  applied  told  me  that  he  was  spending  over  £1 
per  racing  day  in  having  the  results  wired  to  him  from  the 
racing  towns. 

Nowadays  the  result  of  every  race,  no  matter  how  un- 
important that  race  may  be,  is  on  sale  in  London  and  in 
every  other  large  town  in  the  kingdom  within  a  few  minutes 
of  the  decision  of  the  event.  The  clubs,  reading-rooms,  and 
even  many  of  the  hotels  are  supplied  with  the  results  through 
"  the  tape,"  and  no  one  who  lives  within  touch  of  any  large 
centre  of  population  need  be  without  an  evening  paper 
containing  a  report  of  the  day's  doings.  Two  daily 
racing  papers  are  published  in  London,  and  one  in  Man- 
chester, while  full  reports  of  all  the  meetings,  with  criticisms 
on  the  running,  are  given  in  a  large  majority  of  the  non- 
sporting  morning  papers,  published  either  in  London  or 
the  provinces,  the  exception  being,  indeed,  difficult  to  find. 
In  the  North-country  towns,  too,  a  single  sheet  is  everywhere 
on  sale  shortly  before  noon,  filled  with  telegrams  from  the 
course,  with  the  probable  starters  for  each  race,  the  selections 
of  all  the  best  informed  morning  papers,  and  the  little 
regarded  "  latest  betting,"  which  is  an  epitome  of  the  prices 
offered  on  the  day's  races  at  various  clubs,  and  which,  I 
believe,  is  of  the  very  smallest  account.  These  "tissues," 
as  they  are  called,  appear  to  have  a  huge  sale  in  Lancashire, 
Yorkshire,  and  the  Midlands. 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF         3 

Thus,  if  the  newspapers  can  be  accepted  as  a  criterion, 
it  is  evident  that  racing  has  a  greater  hold  on  the  masses 
in  the  northern  industrial  districts  than  it  has  upon  dwellers 
in  London  and  the  South  of  England  generally.  I  take 
it  that  the  supply  of  racing  intelligence  is  regulated  by 
the  demand,  and  thus,  whereas  most  of  the  London  evening 
papers  publish  a  bare  return  of  the  running — with  little  or 
no  criticism  —  and  the  programme  of  the  following  day, 
many  of  the  country  evening  journals  give  a  fuller  return, 
lengthy  criticism,  and,  as  a  general  rule,  a  column  or  so 
of  racing  paragraphs,  many  of  them  possibly  admittedly 
gleaned  from  London  morning  papers. 

Probably  it  is  not  generally  known  that  a  number  of  the 
reports  of  racing  come  from  the  same  source.  By  reports 
I  do  not  mean  criticism  or  commentary,  but  merely  the 
descriptions  of  individual  races.  Such  reports  are  written 
for  the  sporting  dailies  individually,  and  for  one  weekly 
paper,  the  Field,  but  the  rank  and  file  of  morning  and 
evening  papers  procure  their  accounts  of  the  actual  running 
from  the  Press  agencies,  who  supply  them  wholesale,  and 
whose  work  is  done  entirely  by  experts.  The  two  large 
agencies  who  practically  divide  this  work  send  a  staff  of 
from  four  to  eight  representatives  to  each  meeting,  accord- 
ing to  its  importance,  and  the  work  is  divided  so  that  each 
man  has  his  special  duty.  One  man  describes  the  running, 
"  reading "  to  the  others  a  description  of  the  race  as  it  is 
being  run,  his  account  being  rapidly  noted.  Immediately 
afterwards,  especially  if  the  race  has  been  run  on  a  straight 
course  or  in  a  bad  light,  the  jockeys  who  rode  are  consulted 
as  to  "how  they  came,"  and  then  comes  a  comparison  of 
what  was  seen  and  what  the  jockeys  said,  in  the  Press- 
room, whilst  the  account  is  being  written  by  several  hands, 
and  despatched  for  the  evening  papers.  Others  are  at  work 
in  the  ring  procuring  the  starting  prices,  and  this  work  has 
been  for  years  past  very  thoroughly  and  conscientiously 
done.  The  experts  keep  in  close  proximity  to  the  big  layers 
from  the  time  the  numbers  go  up,  and  notice  each  fluctuation 
in  price  until  the  flag  falls. 

I  have  often  thought  that  there  is  nothing  better  done  in 


4  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

racing  journalism  than  the  return  of  starting  prices.  To  the 
racing  "  regular,"  understanding  his  business,  there  should  be 
no  advantage  one  way  or  the  other,  but  the  small  starting- 
price  backer  profits  considerably  by  the  prices  returned,  and 
in  this  way.  Supposing  a  casual  race-goer  in  TattersalPs 
ring  wishes  to  put  a  couple  of  sovereigns  on  an  outsider,  he 
would  not  think  of  going  near  the  "  rails,"  where  £5  is  con- 
sidered a  very  small  bet,  but  is  content  to  bet  with  some 
ready-money  man  who  stands  in  the  middle  or  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  ring.  From  such  a  man  he,  in  all  proba- 
bility, gets  7  or  8  to  i  about  a  horse  which  starts  at  ioo  to  8, 
or  10  to  i  about  a  real  20  to  I  chance.  The  class  of  book- 
maker he  goes  to  seldom  lays  more  than  10  to  i  about 
anything,  excepting  in  the  biggest  handicaps,  and  we  see 
his  clients  accepting  the  false  prices  every  day.  Just  now, 
however,  I  am  not  concerned  with  betting,  but  with  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  reported. 

The  descriptions  of  the  races  are,  on  the  whole,  very 
correct,  and  here  also  the  work  is  entrusted  to  accomplished 
hands,  who  have  benefited  by  long  experience  in  a  subordi- 
nate capacity  before  they  are  promoted,  or  rather  promote 
themselves  through  their  ability,  to  race-reading.  In  the 
short  accounts  published  in  the  evening  papers  it  is  seldom 
that  any  point  of  vital  importance  is  missed,  but  if  it  should 
happen  that  the  favourite — or  any  other  horse — broke  down, 
or  was  shut  in,  and  such  fact  is  not  mentioned  the  same 
afternoon,  it  is  certain  to  be  inserted  in  the  reports  published 
on  the  following  morning.  The  most  difficult  race  to  report 
is  the  Liverpool  Grand  National,  for,  as  a  rule,  only  about 
one-third  of  the  field  complete  the  course,  yet  within  half 
an  hour  of  the  decision  of  the  race  the  actual  fate  of  every 
horse  is  always  known  in  the  Press-room.  From  the  stands 
it  is  impossible  to  note  the  falls  and  pullings-up  which  take 
place  more  than  a  mile  away,  and  in  consequence  all  the 
riders  have  to  be  interviewed,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
description  of  this  particular  race  is  largely  composed  from 
what  the  jockeys  say.  The  Derby  and  Oaks  are  very  easy 
races  to  describe,  and  so  is  the  St.  Leger ;  but  it  is  often 
difficult,  even  with  the  strongest  glasses,  to  see  from  the 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF          5 

Press  stand  what  is  making  running  on  straight  courses 
until  the  horses  are  within  half  a  mile  of  the  post.  Then 
the  light  varies  very  much,  and  sometimes  in  the  finest 
weather  the  sun  blurs  the  colours  to  such  an  extent  that 
all  the  light  jackets  look  white  and  all  the  dark  ones  black. 
When  the  light  is  really  bad,  three  or  four  light  jackets  of 
varied  colour  will  all  look  alike  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away, 
and  when,  as  occasionally  happens,  the  mud  is  thrown  up, 
many  of  the  colours  become  quite  indistinguishable.  Man- 
chester is  much  the  worst  place  the  reporter  has  to  contend 
with,  owing  to  the  frequency  of  fog,  and  it  often  happens 
that  nothing  can  be  seen  of  the  races  until  the  field  are 
close  upon  the  stands.  On  these  occasions  the  jockeys  have 
to  be  relied  upon  for  the  description,  and  I  ought  not  to 
omit  to  state  that,  although  it  is  no  part  of  their  duty  to 
supply  such  information,  it  is  always  given  with  the  greatest 
willingness  and  with  some  intelligence.  Between  the  racing 
Press  and  the  jockeys  the  very  best  of  feeling  prevails  in  all 
parts  of  the  country. 

The  Press  have  a  most  able  coadjutor  in  the  Telegraph 
Department.  The  General  Post  Office  have  for  some  years 
past  sent  about  a  special  corps  of  turf  telegraphists,  who 
are  familiar  with  the  work,  and  who  follow  the  meetings 
week  after  week,  just  as  the  Pressmen  or  any  section  of 
the  racing  community  do.  These  men  are  all  experts  in 
their  work,  and  to  them  the  public  are  largely  indebted 
for  the  evening  paper  reports,  all  of  which  are  wired  direct 
from  the  course. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  the  number  of  race- 
goers of  every  description  is  constantly  increasing,  but  it  is 
by  no  means  so  certain  that  the  sport  is  in  a  particularly 
healthy  state,  and  it  is  also  probable  that  there  are  too 
many  meetings.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  runners  is 
very  small  indeed  (from  1897  to  1898  there  was  a  slight 
falling  off),  and  public  breeders  of  late  years,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  have  either  realised  the  smallest  of  profits,  or 
have  sold  at  a  loss.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  to  increase 
the  stud  fees  of  stallions  who  have  sired  a  few  winners,  and 
it  is  the  custom  to  start  good  winners  on  their  stud  life  at 


6  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

far  too  high  a  price.  Then  the  demand  for  unfashionably 
bred  yearlings  seems  to  grow  smaller  everywhere,  and  though 
there  may  be  some  slight  increase  of  private  breeders,  it 
seems  quite  possible  that  the  supply  of  the  raw  material  will 
before  long  show  a  falling  off.  What  will  happen  then 
(what  has  already  happened,  indeed)  will  be  that  more 
American  and  Colonial  horses  will  be  imported.  I  need 
hardly  remind  my  readers  that  over  a  hundred  American 
yearlings  were  sold  by  Messrs.  Tattersall  at  a  single  New- 
market fixture  in  1899,  and  we  learnt  that  thoroughbred 
yearlings,  which  have  been  bred  in  America,  can  be  brought 
to  the  sale  ring  in  this  country,  having  individually  cost 
a  smaller  sum  per  head — even  with  the  expenses  of  a  long 
land  journey  and  a  sea  voyage  thrown  in — than  do  English 
yearlings.  The  yearlings  to  which  I  refer  were  reared  in 
California,  where  land  is  of  much  less  value  than  it  is  in 
England,  and  where  there  is,  I  am  told,  an  enormous  area 
of  good  pasturage.  Very  small  stud  fees  are  demanded 
for  the  services  of  horses  which  are  not  located  on  the  ranch  ; 
but  Californian  horse  breeding  is  on  a  big  scale,  and  such 
a  ranch  as  that  of  Mr.  Haggin — who  sent  the  large  consign- 
ment to  Newmarket — maintains  half  a  dozen  stallions  or 
more,  so  that  it  is  seldom  necessary  to  send  a  brood  mare 
away  from  home.  The  upshot  is  that  each  yearling  costs 
per  head  quite  a  small  sum  to  rear,  and  even  when  the 
travelling  charges  are  taken  into  account,  the  youngsters  can 
be  delivered  at  an  English  sale  ring,  and  there  sold  at  a 
profit  which  to  the  average  English  breeder  would  represent 
a  certain  loss.  Brood  mares  cost  less  to  buy  in  America 
than  they  do  here,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain 
the  amount  of  interest  on  capital  which  should  be  charged 
to  each  American  yearling,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  some 
of  the  millionaire  owners  of  large  ranches  take  little  or  no 
account  of  the  original  outlay  when  once  they  begin  to 
breed  on  a  large  scale. 

Even  with  English  breeders  this  is  often  a  difficult  matter 
to  ascertain.  One  man  succeeds  to  ancestral  acres,  which 
include  breeding  paddocks,  a  stud  of  brood  mares,  and  very 
likely  a  sire  or  two  as  well.  A  second  rents  suitable  land, 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE    TURF          7 

lays  out  his  paddocks,  builds  hovels,  and  then  begins  to  buy 
mares.  The  last-named,  so  long  as  he  keeps  correct  ac- 
counts, is  of  course  in  a  position  to  know  what  capital  he 
has  invested,  and  what  amount  of  profit  or  loss  he  is  making, 
but  the  man  who  breeds  young  stock  because  his  father  did 
so  before  him  is  in  a  very  different  position,  and  can  only 
tell  by  his  bank-book  whether  he  is  making  or  losing  money. 
Then  there  is  the  yeoman  or  tenant  farmer — generally  a 
Yorkshire  or  Lincolnshire  man,  or  a  Midlander — who 
gradually  acquires  a  general  knowledge  of  breeding  and 
who  buys  a  mare  or  two.  This  man  probably  includes 
his  venture  in  his  ordinary  farming  business,  and  if  he  has 
his  wits  about  him  he  is  very  likely  to  succeed.  Gradually 
his  stud  increases  in  size,  and  from  humble  beginnings 
he  arrives  at  a  big  and  generally  a  paying  business.  His 
original  outlay  has  probably  been  very  small,  and  the 
increase  in  the  size  of  his  stud  is  proof  of  his  success,  the 
new-comers  having  most  likely  been  bought  out  of  profits. 

Nevertheless,  though  there  are  exceptions,  both  among 
large  and  small  breeders,  it  is  a  fact  that  many  of  the 
yearlings  sold  at  auction  represent  a  loss  to  their  breeders, 
and  unless  a  man  is  fortunate  enough  to  sell  one  or  two 
at  prices  which  will  make  the  whole  sale  represent  a  profit 
he  quickly  gets  disheartened,  and  retires  from  the  business. 
Of  course  there  are  the  very  rich  men,  who  will  stand  an 
annual  loss  rather  than  give  in  ;  but  a  study  of  the  whole 
question  reveals  the  fact  that  public  breeding  is  in  a  poor 
.way,  and  this  points  to  a  curtailment  of  the  annual  output 
of  English  yearlings. 

Then  comes  the  question  of  foreign  importations,  and  I 
have  seen  so  much  of  these  during  the  last  ten  years  that 
I  am  inclined  to  welcome  the  change.  It  can  hardly  be 
denied  that  the  average  modern  English  racehorse  is  a  poor 
creature.  Nine  out  of  ten  of  those  which  have  been  before 
the  public  of  late  have  neither  constitution  nor  stamina. 
Speed  they  certainly  have,  but  there  are  far  too  many  horses 
who  cannot  travel  an  inch  farther  than  five  or  six  furlongs, 
and  many  more  who  cannot  get  beyond  a  mile.  These  are 
not  the  sort  of  animals  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the 


8  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

English  Turf,  and  their  presence  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  we  have  got  into  a  bad  groove,  both  as  regards  breeding 
and  training,  and  also  because  we  have  had  far  too  many 
short  races  and  too  many  selling  handicaps.  Concerning 
the  plethora  of  short  races  I  need  say  no  more,  since  the 
Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club  have  thoroughly  grasped  the 
situation,  and  have  already  legislated  with  a  view  to  an 
amelioration  of  the  evil.  Let  us  hope  that  their  efforts  will 
continue  to  be  in  the  same  direction.  The  short -race 
system  was  brought  about  by  promoters  of  meetings  who 
years  ago  realised  the  fact  that  it  was  a  much  easier  matter 
to  get  fifteen  runners  for  a  five-furlong  race  than  to  secure 
five  starters  for  a  two-mile  race.  The  trainers  played  into 
their  hands,  and  as  there  was  no  check  for  many  years  short 
races  increased  in  number,  and  the  inducements  to  train 
horses  for  the  longer  distances  became  fewer  and  fewer. 

Many,  perhaps  a  majority,  of  these  sprinters  that  have 
been  a  natural  product  of  the  system  are  as  unlike  the 
typical  racehorse  as  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be.  High 
on  the  leg,  too  short  from  shoulder  to  quarters,  narrow, 
split  up,  and  light  of  bone.  How  many  of  this  stamp  of 
horse,  and  yet  gifted  with  speed  for  a  short  course,  do  we 
not  see  in  any  race  paddock  nowadays  ?  The  question 
hardly  requires  an  answer.  These  are  not  the  right  sort 
of  horses,  and  the  more  of  this  stamp  we  continue  to 
breed,  the  more  we  make  room  for  the  Americans  and 
Colonials.  The  reasons  for  the  present  state  of  affairs  are 
numerous,  and  so  too  are  the  remedies  that  are  suggested. 
I  have  no  wish  to  dictate,  but  am  much  inclined  to  suggest 
that  unsoundness  in  both  sire  and  dam  is  not  sufficiently 
taken  into  account.  All  the  racing  world  knows  that  from 
roarers  many  good  horses  have  been  bred,  but  one  swallow 
does  not  make  a  summer,  and  I  feel  sure  that  a  majority 
of  the  stock  of  any  roarer  will  some  time  or  other  develop 
the  weakness  of  their  parent.  The  late  Duke  of  Westminster 
was  widely  and  loudly  abused  for  selling  Ormonde  out  of 
the  country,  but,  putting  all  sentiment  out  of  the  question, 
and  looking  at  the  matter  from  a  purely  practical  point 
of  view,  the  Duke  acted  very  rightly,  though  as  it  happened 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF         9 

Ormonde  left  Orme  behind  him  ;  and  Orme  has  already 
sired  Flying  Fox,  both  sire  and  son  being  clear -winded 
horses. 

Of  course  it  has  been  and  will  again  be  urged  that  if  such 
horses  as  Orme  and  Flying  Fox  can  be  bred  from  an 
acknowledged  roarer,  roarers  are  just  as  likely  to  get  good 
stock  as  sound  horses  are ;  but  this,  I  maintain,  is  begging 
the  question.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  brilliant  roarer 
occasionally  sires  a  great  horse,  but  it  is  also  true,  so  far 
as  we  can  judge  from  results,  that  he  also  sires  many  roarers 
who  have  the  disease  in  even  more  pronounced  form  than 
their  sire,  and,  as  many  of  these  in  their  turn  are  sent  to  the 
stud,  roaring  is  not  only  kept  alive,  but  is  encouraged  and 
helped.  Those  who  attend  the  blood-stock  sales  regularly 
can  hardly  have  failed  to  notice  that  the  Austrian  and 
German  Government  buyers  never  by  any  chance  buy  an 
unsound  horse  or  mare.  When  these  gentlemen  came  into 
the  market  for  breeding  stock  they  made  soundness  their 
first  object,  and  they  will  take  away  neither  horse  nor  mare 
unless  he  or  she  can  pass  the  most  rigorous  veterinary 
examination.  The  English  purchaser,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  very  often  so  inured  to  roaring  that  he  takes  his  chance, 
and,  if  he  likes  the  horse  and  has  been  pleased  with  his 
performances,  will  send  mares  to  him,  no  matter  how  badly 
he  may  roar. 

What  I  am  much  inclined  to  think  is  that  roaring  is 
greatly  on  the  increase.  There  are,  unfortunately,  no 
statistics  to  prove  the  matter  one  way  or  the  other,  but 
nowadays  we  hear  of  more  roarers  than  we  used  to  formerly. 
I  have  been  told  by  veterinary  surgeons  that  there  is  more 
of  it,  both  among  thoroughbreds  and  hunters,  and  all 
hunters  are  bred  from  thoroughbred  sires  who  began  life 
in  a  training  stable. 

Another  inducement  to  keeping  and  training  roarers  is 
that  many  of  them  are  little  affected  by  the  disease,  at  all 
events  during  their  early  days.  Ormonde  was  a  pronounced 
roarer  when  he  beat  Minting  and  Bendigo  in  the  Hardwicke 
Stakes  of  a  mile  and  a  half  at  Ascot,  and  Prince  Charlie, 
who  was  probably  the  fastest  T.Y.C.  horse  of  the  century, 


10  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

was  always  wrong  in  his  wind.  In  1897  Knight  of  the 
Thistle  (a  roarer)  won  the  Royal  Hunt  Cup  at  Ascot,  and 
not  a  year  passes  but  good  races  fall  to  this  class  of 
horse.  The  operation  of  tracheotomy  is  often  attended  by 
good  results,  and  it  is  quite  a  common  thing  to  see  up  to 
half  a  dozen  horses  in  one  afternoon's  steeplechasing  with 
the  tube  in  their  throats.  Many  of  them  can  win  steeple- 
chases and  hurdle  races,  thus  they  are  quite  as  good  instru- 
ments of  gambling  as  are  the  sound  horses.  Nevertheless, 
on  the  broadest  grounds  the  roarer  is  not  wanted,  but  he 
will  continue  to  exist,  and  even  to  increase  numerically, 
as  long  as  roaring  sires  or  dams  are  sent  to  the  stud. 

Unsoundness  of  limb  has  far  more  weight  with  most 
breeders  than  roaring  has,  and  as  a  consequence  a  yearling 
who  is  unsound  of  limb  is  seldom  seen  at  the  sale  ring, 
or  in  any  lot  which  is  sent  to  the  trainer  during  the 
autumn.  Yearlings  with  suspicious  limbs,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  common  enough,  but  limb  troubles  do  not  as  a 
rule  develop  until  the  horse  which  bears  them  has  been 
broken  and  put  to  work.  Then  it  is  either  a  case  of  break- 
down or  of  putting  by  until  the  limbs  have  become  stronger. 
We  need  not,  however,  concern  ourselves  with  this  side 
of  the  question,  for  a  good  judge  will  hesitate  long  enough 
before  he  puts  into  training  a  youngster  who  is  wrongly 
formed,  or  who  shows  a  marked  weakness  in  some  part 
of  his  anatomy.  A  much  more  serious  matter  is  the  fact 
that  the  present  fashion  of  putting  thoroughbreds  into 
training  far  too  young  breaks  many  of  them  down  before 
they  have  a  chance  of  distinguishing  themselves.  Dozens  of 
likely-looking  yearlings  who  bring  big  money  when  sold 
are  never  seen  on  a  racecourse,  and  we  may  take  it  that 
a  fair  proportion  of  such  have  developed  hereditary  un- 
soundness  when  put  to  work.  So  far  as  the  colts  are 
concerned  not  much  mischief  is  done,  because  only  a  very 
exceptionally  bred  horse  can  command  any  stud  patronage 
if  he  has  never  run  in  public,  and  even  then  he  must  be 
loudly  trumpeted  as  the  victim  of  an  "accident"  in  his 
yearling  days.  The  fillies,  however,  are  often  put  by  for  the 
stud,  and  thus  the  supply  of  unsound  matrons  is  increased. 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF       11 

It  is  a  curious  reflection  that  at  the  shows  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  "  Hunters  Improvement  Society "  no  horse 
or  mare  is  entitled  to  a  prize  until  he  or  she  has  passed  a 
veterinary  examination,  and  yet  there  is  no  obstacle  whatever 
to  breeders  of  thoroughbreds  using  either  an  unsound  sire 
or  dam,  or  both  in  their  attempt  to  raise  a  galloping 
machine. 

A  page  or  two  back  I  stated  that  I  was  much  inclined 
to  welcome  the  advent  of  the  imported  horses,  and  my  chief 
reason  for  this  opinion  is  that  these  American  and  Colonial 
horses  have  greatly  helped  to  point  out  the  weaknesses  of 
our  present  system.  No  matter  what  class  they  belong 
to,  it  seems  to  be  the  general  rule  that  the  Colonials  and, 
in  a  less  degree,  the  Americans  are  hardier  and  more  free 
from  unsoundness  than  the  English  horses.  And  in  this 
connection  I  am  referring  especially  to  the  importations 
which  were  ready-made  racehorses  in  the  land  of  their  birth 
before  they  were  sent  to  England,  and  not  to  American 
yearlings  sent  over  to  be  sold.  Dealing  then  with  the 
importations  that  have  been  through  a  racing  season  or 
two  in  their  own  country  before  they  ran  in  England,  it  is 
quite  the  exception  to  find  one  of  them  at  all  unsound, 
either  in  wind  or  limb.  I  have  known  of  an  Australian 
horse  becoming  a  roarer  some  time  after  he  had  been  in 
England,  but  the  disease  was  in  all  probability  the  result 
of  illness  which  seized  him  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  this 
country.  Certainly  he  showed  no  signs  of  it  when  he 
arrived. 

Good  clean  limbs,  with  bigger  bone  than  English  horses 
have,  and  clear  wind  ;  these  are  the  special  attributes  of  a 
large  majority  of  the  Colonial  horses  which  have  been  sent 
to  England  in  the  last  six  or  eight  years,  and  though  no 
Colonial-bred  horse  of  the  very  first  class — as  compared  with 
our  best  class — has  been  sent  here  as  yet,  the  rank  and  file 
are  nevertheless  hardy,  useful  customers,  most  of  whom  can 
hold  their  own  in  ordinary  company. 

As  fair  specimens  of  the  Australian  ready-made  racehorse 
who  have  run  with  success  in  England  I  may  cite  Merman 
and  Newhaven  II.  The  first-named,  though  apparently  a 


12  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

difficult  horse  to  manage,  had  two  sequences  of  successes,  at 
an  interval  of  two  years,  and  curiously  enough  he  was  in 
different  hands  during  each  period.  When  trained  by  Webb 
at  Newmarket  he  won  the  Lewes  Handicap,  the  Caesarewitch, 
and  a  Two-mile  Plate  at  Hurst  Park  off  the  reel ;  and  two 
years  later,  when  under  the  care  of  Robinson,  at  Foxhill, 
he  secured  the  Goodwood  Plate  under  9  st,  the  Goodwood 
Cup,  and  the  Birmingham  Handicap  under  9  st.  5  Ibs.,  all 
within  the  space  of  ten  days.  Between  these  two  spells 
of  victory  the  horse  appeared  to  an  extent  to  lose  his 
form,  but  in  the  intervening  year  he  scored  one  notable 
victory,  viz.  when  he  beat  The  Rush  and  Bay  Ronald  in 
the  Jockey  Club  Cup  at  Newmarket.  In  1900  he  ran  once 
only,  finishing  a  remarkable  career  by  an  easily  gained 
success  in  the  Gold  Cup  at  Ascot. 

Newhaven  II.  won  the  March  Stakes,  the  City  and  Sub- 
urban, and  Epsom  Cup,  all  in  the  spring  of  1899,  and  just 
about  that  time  he  was  quite  at  the  top  of  the  handicap 
class.  This  horse,  by  the  way,  had  the  reputation  of  being  a 
great  stayer  in  his  own  country,  but  in  England  all  his  best 
form  was  shown  at  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half,  and 
when  he  essayed  to  run  a  longer  distance  he  made  a  very 
moderate  show.  Indeed,  Merman  beat  him  with  the  greatest 
ease  in  the  Goodwood  Cup,  and  yet  on  a  mile  course  I  have 
no  doubt  that  Newhaven  II.  would  have  given  his  country- 
man at  least  a  stone. 

Merman  was  eight  years  old  when  he  won  the  Ascot 
Cup,  and  Newhaven  II.  six  years  old  when  he  carried  the 
top  weight  home  successfully  in  the  City  and  Suburban,  and 
I  find  that  with  the  single  exception  of  Barmecide,  no  other 
aged  horse  except  Merman  has  won  the  Goodwood  Cup 
within  the  last  fifty  years.  With  regard  to  the  City  and 
Suburban,  there  have  been  five  six-year-old  winners  besides 
Newhaven  II.  in  fifty  years  (one  being  the  American  horse 
Parole) ;  but  it  is  an  easier  matter  to  keep  short-distance 
horses  on  their  legs  than  Cup  winners,  and  Merman's  sound- 
ness is  almost  proverbial.  Anyhow,  the  fact  of  Merman 
having  won  an  Ascot  Cup  at  eight  years  old,  and  New- 
haven  II.  a  City  and  Suburban  when  a  year  younger  (and 


THE   POSITION  OF  THE   TURF       13 

this  horse  was  followed  home  at  Epsom  by  another  Aus- 
tralian six-year-old  in  Survivor)  is  a  very  strong  proof  in 
favour  of  the  hardiness  of  the  Australian  horses,  for  it  must 
be  remembered  that  when  these  events  occurred  there  were 
not  more  than  a  dozen  Colonial  flat -racers  in  training  in 
England,  against  some  fifteen  hundred  English  horses  who 
were  old  enough  to  take  part  in  Cups  and  Handicaps. 

Since  the  above  was  written  The  Grafter,  an  aged 
Australian  horse,  has  won  the  City  and  Suburban  of  1900. 

Whether  the  Australians  have  bred  anything  as  good  as 
our  best  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  say,  simply  because  their 
supposed  best — such  as  Carbine  was  in  his  running  days — 
have  not  been  pitted  against  our  own,  but  it  seems  to  me, 
judging  from  what  has  been  sent  to  England,  that  in 
Australia  soundness  must  be  more  studied  in  breeding 
than  it  is  here,  and  that  early  forcing  cannot  be  so  common. 
So  few  English  flat-racers  who  begin  in  public  as  two-year- 
olds  last  on  to  run  as  five  and  six-year-olds,  unless  they 
happen  to  have  gone  wrong  early  and  to  have  been  thrown 
up  for  a  couple  of  years  or  so.  Those  horses  which  keep 
on  running  year  after  year  on  the  flat,  like  old  Herald,  are 
few  and  far  between,  whereas  the  average  Australian,  so  far 
as  we  have  seen  him  in  this  country,  appears  to  be  quite 
sound  at  six  and  upwards. 

As  regards  breeding  from  Colonial  horses,  it  is  early  yet 
to  say  whether  it  will  be  for  the  general  good  or  not.  In  my 
opinion  our  breed  ought  to  be  strengthened  by  the  best 
Colonial  blood,  but  I  should  hesitate  to  put  any  mare  to 
a  Colonial  sire,  no  matter  what  his  home  reputation  might 
be,  unless  both  horse  and  mare  strained  back  to  one  or 
more  of  the  same  (good)  tap  roots.  I  need  hardly  say  that 
the  experiment  of  putting  English  mares  to  Colonial-bred 
sires  is  being  very  widely  tried  in  England  just  now,  but  it 
will  be  several  years  before  it  will  be  thoroughly  established 
whether  good  or  evil  will  accrue.  But  the  very  fact  of 
several  Australian  sires  of  high  repute  in  their  own  country 
having  been  brought  to  England  shows  that  some  of  our 
English  breeders  are  alarmed  at  the  existing  state  of  affairs, 
and  are  wishful  to  counteract  the  weaknesses  so  prevalent 


14  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

in  the  present  breed.  They  are  tired  of  the  small-boned, 
"  herring-gutted,"  weak,  flashy  weed,  who  can  only  travel 
five  or  six  furlongs,  and  who  either  breaks  down  or  goes 
roarer  in  his  second  season ;  and  though  they  are  aware 
that  a  considerable  number  of  good  second-raters  are  among 
the  annual  crop,  and  that  an  occasional  high-class  horse  is 
bred  every  now  and  then,  they  nevertheless  are  of  opinion 
that  the  percentage  of  good  ones  is  far  too  small,  considering 
the  number  bred,  and  they  are  anxious  to  do  everything  they 
can  to  ameliorate  the  evil. 

It  must  have  been  such  motives  as  those  just  enumerated 
that  induced  the  Duke  of  Portland  to  pay  a  long  price  for 
the  Australian  horse  Carbine,  and  even  supposing  (merely 
for  the  sake  of  argument)  that  Carbine  is  at  present  only  a 
partial  success  in  England,  his  blood  may  live  on  in  future 
generations,  and  become  of  great  value.  He  was  bought 
chiefly  with  a  view  to  the  many  St.  Simon  mares  in  the 
Welbeck  stud,  and  mating  the  Australian  with  direct  de- 
scendants of  the  line  of  Blacklock  unites  the  two  stoutest 
staying  lines  of  blood  in  existence.  Another  Australian 
sire,  Trenton,  was  brought  to  England  after  he  had  achieved 
great  stud  success  in  Australia,  and  this  horse  has  already 
sired  a  fair  winner  or  two  in  England,  Longy,  Parquetry, 
and  the  Polly  Eccles  colt  to  wit. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  imported  Australians 
differ  very  much  from  the  Americans,  and,  as  far  as  I  can 
judge,  the  last-named  are  not  so  likely  to  improve  the 
English  blood  as  the  Antipodean  horses.  Perhaps  it  is 
not  generally  known  that  nine-tenths  of  the  Americans  are 
not  pure  bred.  Some,  of  course,  strain  back  to  English 
ancestry  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  but  a  large  majority 
go  back  to  obscurity  and  are  no  doubt  descended  from 
native  mares  of  anything  but  pure  breed.  The  Australians, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  all  be  traced  to  imported  English 
sires  and  mares,  and  thus  in  breeding  with  them  in  England 
it  is  a  case  of  returning  to  old  blood  which  has  been  freshened, 
and  probably  invigorated  by  no  incrossing  for  several  genera- 
tions, and  by  the  eminently  favourable  climate  for  horse- 
breeding  of  the  land  of  the  Southern  Cross. 


THE   POSITION   OF   THE   TURF       15 

What  is  quite  clear  at  present  is  that  the  average 
American  does  not  stay  anything  like  so  well  as  the  average 
Australian.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  Americans  we  have 
seen  in  this  country  do  best  at  a  mile,  and  few  of  them  can 
go  further  than  a  mile  and  a  half.  Some  exceptions  there 
have  been,  notably  Foxhall,  who  won  the  Caesarewitch  as 
a  three-year-old  under  7  st.  12  Ibs.,  and  I  need  hardly 
write  that  no  horse  who  was  not  a  first-rate  stayer  could 
have  done  this.  That  race,  however,  took  place  nearly 
twenty  years  ago,  and  since  that  time  hundreds  of  Americans 
have  been  sent  to  this  country,  not  one  of  whom  will  be 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  great  or  even  good  stayer. 
The  late  Lord  William  Beresford,  racing  in  partnership  with 
Mr.  Lorillard,  had  great  success  in  1898  and  1899  with  horses 
imported  from  America,  but  the  best  of  them  were  best  at 
a  mile,  and  very  seldom  were  the  colours  carried  in  a  long- 
distance race.  What  is  lacking  in  the  American  system  it 
is  difficult  for  one  who  has  not  raced  in  that  country  to 
know,  but$  speaking  broadly,  and  judging  from  what  has 
been  seen  in  England  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  English-bred  horses  are 
better  stayers  than  their  transatlantic  neighbours,  and  that 
the  Australians  have  a  pull  over  us  in  the  matter  of  stamina. 
It  cannot  be  too  well  borne  in  mind  that  the  Australian  im- 
portations to  this  country  have  been  very  small  compared 
with  those  from  America,  and  that  the  opinion  here  expressed 
is  derived  entirely  from  what  the  imported  horses  from 
either  country  have  done  on  English  courses. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  horses  of  the  present  day 
are  better  or  worse  than  those  of,  say,  half  a  century  ago, 
is  a  difficult  one  to  decide,  yet  it  is  constantly  argued, 
both  on  paper  and  in  conversation  among  racing  men.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the  modern  race- 
course are  nearly  as  bad  as  bad  can  be,  but  I  am  not  at 
all  sure  that  the  same  was  not  the  case  fifty  years  ago,  and, 
in  any  circumstances,  it  would  appear  to  be  almost  impossible 
for  anyone  to  speak  definitely.  The  best  of  the  present  day 
I  am  inclined  to  think  are  as  good  as  any  which  have  pre- 
ceded them  ;  but  even  here  the  experts  differ.  Men  who 


16  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

have  been  racing  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  oftenest  incline 
to  Ormonde  or  St.  Simon  as  "  the  horse  of  the  century." 
Others,  including  the  veteran  Mr.  Joseph  Osborne,  swear 
by  Persimmon  ;  and  others  again  even  incline  to  the  later 
equine  wonder,  Flying  Fox.  But,  should  one  happen  to 
talk  the  matter  over  with  elderly  Yorkshire  turfites,  it  will 
be  found  they  still  take  their  stand  by  West  Australian  and 
the  Flying  Dutchman,  or  perhaps  by  Blair  Athol.  Every- 
one inclines  to  his  own  particular  fancy  and  has  a  dozen 
arguments  in  favour  of  his  choice. 

I  hold  very  strongly  to  the  opinion  that  it  is  impossible 
to  judge  between  the  great  horses  of  one  epoch  and  those 
of  another.  St.  Simon  never  was  beaten,  but,  owing 
to  his  disqualification  for  all  his  earlier  engagements  he 
never  had  much  to  beat.  Ormonde,  besides  being  unbeaten, 
beat  all  sorts  of  great  winners,  such  as  Minting,  Saraband, 
The  Bard,  and  Bendigo,  to  mention  the  best  of  them. 
Twice  did  he  lower  the  colours  of  Mr.  Vyner's  big  horse ; 
yet  that  same  Minting,  in  winning  the  Jubilee  Stakes  at 
Kempton  Park,  with  10  stone  in  the  saddle,  accomplished 
what  I  consider  to  be  by  far  the  greatest  mile  handicap  per- 
formance of  modern  times.  Regarded  from  the  point  of 
view  of  what  they  beat,  Ormonde  has  the  best  of  the 
argument  with  St.  Simon  ;  on  the  other  hand,  St.  Simon 
won  the  Ascot  Cup  and  other  long-distance  races,  while 
Ormonde  never  went  farther  than  the  St.  Leger  distance 
of  a  mile  and  three-quarters,  where  of  course  he  only  met 
those  of  his  own  age.  Whilst  considering  the  rights  of 
unbeaten  horses  Barcaldine  has  strong  claims  to  recognition, 
and  like  many  other  great  celebrities,  he  was  good  over  any 
distance  of  ground.  He  not  only  beat  Tristan  very  easily 
over  a  mile  course  at  Kempton  Park,  but  he  took  a  good 
two-mile  handicap  with  9  st.  lolbs.  in  the  saddle,  and  that 
when  he  had  not  done  a  gallop  for  a  week. 

Persimmon  and  Cyllene  won  the  Ascot  Cup  from  good 
fields  with  extraordinary  ease,  and  as  a  three-year-old  Flying 
Fox  exhibited  a  dash  in  all  his  races  which  fairly  electrified 
onlookers.  All  these  must  be  classed  as  really  great  horses, 
and  it  matters  little  which  was  really  the  actual  best. 


THE   POSITION  OF  THE   TURF       17 

The  time  test  is  of  little  value  in  this  connection,  for  it 
is  only  quite  lately  that  any  attention  has  been  paid  to  it, 
and  courses  vary  so  much  that  a  performance  on  one  ought 
not  to  be  compared  with  a  performance  on  another.  The 
Rowley  Mile,  for  instance,  must  in  an  ordinary  way  take 
longer  time  than  the  miles  at  Epsom,  Brighton,  or  elsewhere 
where  the  track  slopes  downward.  At  the  moment  an  Orme 
colt  named  Harrow  holds  the  mile  record  of  i  min.  35^  sec., 
but  this  was  done  at  Lingfield,  where  nearly  half  the  distance 
is  downhill.  For  the  Rowley  Mile  (i  mile  u  yards)  the 
record  of  i  min.  40!  sec.  is  credited  to  Galtee  More,  yet 
no  one  would  suggest  that  Harrow  was  in  the  same  class 
as  the  famous  Irish  horse. 

The  records,  as  published  from  time  to  time,  are  all  of 
modern  date,  and  this  either  suggests  that  the  speed  of  the 
present  day  is  better  than  that  of  any  former  period,  or  that 
"  clocking  "  is  much  more  carefully  attended  to  than  it  used 
to  be. 

To  take  a  recent  example,  Clarehaven  won  the  Caesare- 
witch  in  1900,  in  the  record  time  of  3  min.  5 if  sec.  The 
Caesarewitch  distance  is  2  miles  2  furlongs  and  35  yards, 
and  on  this  particular  day  the  "  going "  was  in  first-rate 
condition  for  fast  time,  while  there  was  no  head  wind.  The 
winner,  a  four-year-old,  carried  within  a  pound  of  8  stone,  and 
although  she  had  won  her  race  quite  two  furlongs  from 
home,  she  was  not  eased  up  the  hill  from  the  Abingdon 
Mile  Bottom,  but  allowed  to  stride  along  to  the  end. 

Perhaps  the  Liverpool  Grand  National  throws  some  light 
on  the  subject,  and  if  we  can  take  the  early  times  as  trust- 
worthy the  steeplechase  horse  of  to-day  is  a  vastly  superior 
animal  to  his  predecessor  of  half  a  century  ago.  Thus  we 
find  that  Lottery,  a  great  horse  and  a  famous  winner  in 
his  day,  won  the  race  in  1838  in  14  min.  53  sec.,  and  that 
Cloister  won  in  1893  m  9  mm-  42i  sec-  On  the  face  of 
it  it  would  appear  that  Cloister  was  in  a  totally  different 
class  from  Lottery,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  such  was  the 
case.  In  Lottery's  race  there  were  seventeen  runners,  so 
that,  in  all  probability,  there  was  something  to  bring  them 
along,  but  I  can  find  no  account  which  mentions  the  state 
c 


18  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

of  the  going,  and  of  course  it  may  have  been  very  deep. 
Cloister,  it  will  be  remembered,  won  on  "the  top  of  the 
ground,"  but  he  made  all  his  own  running,  and  in  my 
opinion  this  performance,  and  that  of  the  same  horse  in 
the  Sefton  steeplechase  twenty  months  later,  when  he  won 
by  twenty  lengths,  after  again  making  his  own  running, 
stamp  Mr.  Duff's  horse  as  the  greatest  chaser  of  all  times. 
There  are  many  who  will  urge  that  Manifesto  won  the 
Grand  National  under  the  same  weight  as  Cloister,  and  that 
the  first-named  beat  the  better-class  field,  but  I  have  always 
thought  that  Cloister  has  the  best  of  the  argument  because 
he  made  his  own  running,  and  because  of  the  ridiculous  ease 
with  which  he  won,  and  I  also  think  that  his  Sefton  steeple- 
chase victory  was  the  greatest  cross-country  achievement 
I  ever  saw  or  heard  of.  Some,  no  doubt,  will  argue  that 
the  Liverpool  course  was  much  severer  in  Lottery's  day 
than  it  is  now,  but  on  this  head  I  cannot  write  with  certainty, 
and  can  only  say  that  I  see  no  change  worth  talking  about 
in  five-and-twenty  years.  The  fences  now  average  five  feet 
in  height ;  indeed  only  one  or  two  are  less,  and  if  the 
"  table  "  jump  has  disappeared  the  open  ditches  have  taken 
its  place  as  formidable  obstacles.  I  know  that  certain  old- 
time  race-goers,  especially  ex-steeplechase  jockeys,  tell  one 
year  by  year  that  the  course  is  smaller  and  easier  every 
time  they  see  it,  but  if  we  are  to  believe  these  worthies  the 
fences  must  have  been  ten  feet  high  at  least  in  Lottery's  day, 
and  the  brooks  quite  as  many  yards  wide.  Whatever  it  may 
have  been,  Liverpool  is  still  by  far  the  biggest  steeplechase 
course  in  existence,  and  Cloister's  time  of  just  over  9  min. 
42  sec.  is  a  magnificent  piece  of  work.  A  propos  of  Cloister, 
it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  he  is  ending  his  days  in  luxurious 
ease.  Many  owners  care  little  what  becomes  of  a  horse 
whose  racing  or  stud  value  has  come  to  an  end,  but 
Mr.  Duff,  whose  colours  Cloister  carried  at  Liverpool,  has 
provided  most  liberally  for  his  old  slave,  who  is  growing 
old  at  the  establishment  of  the  Messrs.  Rich,  near  Wembly, 
provided  with  the  roomiest  of  boxes,  the  best  of  provender, 
and  the  smartest  of  clothing.  Every  day  he  is  led  out  for 
a  quantum  of  exercise,  and  I  learn  that  he  has  developed 


THE   POSITION  OF  THE   TURF       19 

quite  aldermanic  proportions  as  the  result  of  so  much  good 
living. 

To  look  further  into  the  Grand  National  times  as  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  improvement  in  the  thoroughbred,  I  find 
that  nearly  thirteen  minutes  was  about  the  average  up  to 
1844,  when  Cureall  won  in  10  min.  47  sec.  Abd  el  Kader 
(owned  by  Mr.  Joseph  Osborne,  referred  to  just  now)  did 
good  times  in  1850  and  1851,  but  he  carried  such  light 
weights  as  9  st.  I2lbs.  and  lost.  4  Ibs.,  and  I  have  heard 
from  Mr.  Osborne  that  all  the  conditions  were  fairly  favour- 
able. In  the  sixties  and  seventies  eleven  minutes  was  about 
the  average  time,  though  there  were  occasional  fast  times, 
as,  for  instance,  the  second  victory  of  The  Lamb ;  but  from 
1872  to  1890  the  race  was  never  run  in  less  than  ten  minutes 
(and  often  over  eleven),  while  since  that  date  the  time  has 
only  been  twice  over  ten  minutes,  and  the  two  winners 
in  the  slow  time  were  Wild  Man  from  Borneo  and  The 
Soarer,  certainly  the  two  worst  Liverpool  winners  of  the 
last  twenty  years,  or  since  Casse  T£te  won  for  Mr.  Brayley. 

The  Liverpool  times  point  strongly  to  the  improvement 
of  the  chaser,  but  as  to  the  Derby  the  times  only  date  from 
1846,  and  though  the  more  recent  ones  are  better  than  those 
of  half  a  century  ago,  the  difference  is  not  enough  to  support 
a  strong  argument  on  either  side  of  the  question.  During 
the  period  of  fifty-three  years  in  which  times  have  been 
taken  there  is  a  difference  of  twenty-two  seconds  only  be- 
tween the  best  and  the  worst,  the  worst  being  the  3  min. 
4  sec.  of  Ellington  in  1856,  and  the  best  the  2  min.  42  sec. 
of  Persimmon,  exactly  forty  years  later.  The  record  time 
has  since  been  equalled  by  Diamond  Jubilee  (own  brother 
to  Persimmon)  in  1900. 

A  study  of  old  Calendars  appears  to  reveal  the  fact  that 
the  racehorse  was  a  hardier  animal  in  the  middle  of  the 
century  than  he  is  now ;  he  certainly  ran  more  frequently 
and  went  to  the  stud  later  in  life,  but  then  he  was  not,  as 
a  general  rule,  given  so  much  early  two-year-old  work,  and 
in  many  cases  he  did  the  greater  part  of  his  training  on  the 
racecourse.  No  doubt  he  was  much  less  pampered  when 
a  yearling  and  not  treated  as  if  he  were  an  exotic  plant ; 


20  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

and  in  all  probability  he  lived  in  a  cooler  atmosphere  and 
wore  lighter  clothes.  His  racing  merit,  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  was  not  so  good  as  that  of  the  horse  of  to-day ;  but 
more  of  his  species,  in  proportion  to  the  number  bred, 
appeared  on  the  course,  and  certainly  more  survived  the 
ordeal  of  their  first  season.  We  may,  and  in  fact  we 
probably  have,  improved  the  speed  all  round,  but  in  a 
great  measure  this  has  been  done  at  the  expense  of  stamina, 
and  judging  from  the  number  of  foals  born  each  year,  and 
the  number  of  two-year-olds  which  run,  to  the  increase  of 
unsoundness. 

Many  sires  are  put  to  the  stud  when  far  too  young,  and 
they  are  given  too  many  mares.  If  I  wanted  to  make  a 
horse  a  stud  success  he  should  not  see  a  mare  until  he 
was  six  years  old,  and  then  he  should  be  restricted  to 
twenty  mares,  with  an  annual  increase  of  five  until  forty 
was  reached.  This  number  should  never  be  exceeded, 
and  breeders  should  bear  in  mind  that  a  horse  does  not 
reach  maturity  until  he  is  at  least  six  years  old.  Masters 
of  hounds  seldom  use  a  dog  hound  until  he  is  nearly  three 
years  old,  and  a  hound  at  that  age  is  about  as  old  as  a  horse 
of  six  or  seven.  Yet  the  latter,  if  his  owner  is  on  the 
money-making  tack,  has  often  had  a  couple  of  hundred 
mares  by  the  time  he  is  seven  years  old,  and  thus  his 
vital  powers  have  degenerated  through  being  overstrained 
while  the  horse  was  still  unmatured. 

Excessive  stallion  fees  are  the  fashion  of  the  moment, 
but  this  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  not  one  stallion  owner 
in  twenty  cares  for  the  improvement  of  the  breed,  so  long 
as  his  horse  can  earn  a  large  annual  income.  Breeders  for 
sale  know  that  yearlings  by  certain  fashionable  sires  will 
fetch  large  sums,  if  they  can  only  be  sent  to  the  sale  ring 
well  grown  and  nicely  rounded,  and  with  any  bad  points 
they  may  have  concealed  by  fat,  and  therefore  they  pay 
exorbitant  fees  for  the  blood  in  demand  at  the  moment. 
They  look  to  getting  it  back  by  the  sale  of  their  yearlings, 
and  the  stallion  owner,  if  the  stock  of  his  horse  are  winning 
many  races,  can  now  practically  charge  what  he  likes. 

The  whole  system  is  wrong,  because  certain  lucky  horses 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF       21 

get  the  pick  of  the  mares,  and  certain  other  horses — perhaps 
just  as  good  looking,  as  well  bred,  and  as  good  performers 
— only  get  moderate  mares,  or  have  to  put  up  with  those 
whose  blood  does  not  nick.  But  in  breeding  fashion  rules 
supreme  ;  and  as  long  as  a  stallion  holds  a  really  good 
place  in  the  winning  sire  list  he  is  bound  to  have  the  chance 
of  more  patronage  than  it  is  right  for  him  to  accept,  and  is 
often  offered  at  what  is  really  an  excessive  figure. 

The  reasons  for  this  state  of  affairs  seem  to  be  fairly  plain. 
In  the  first  place,  some  time  ago  the  larger  studs  were 
nearly  all  owned  by  great  noblemen  or  large  landed  pro- 
prietors. There  were  no  weekly  lists  of  winning  sires,  and 
horse  breeders,  to  a  considerable  extent,  kept  their  own 
particular  breed  in  their  own  hands.  Nowadays  the  ranks 
of  owners  and  of  breeders  are  mostly  recruited  from  the 
world  of  commerce.  Titled  owners  of  large  studs  still  exist, 
but  not  in  the  numbers  they  did  half  a  century  ago.  The 
landed  proprietor,  if  he  has  no  other  source  of  revenue 
beyond  his  acres,  cannot  afford  to  breed  or  race,  and  in  his 
place  we  have  the  successful  tradesman  or  manufacturer  who 
goes  into  the  business  heart  and  soul,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
always  tries  to,  and  often  does,  secure  huge  interest  on  his 
outlay.  He  it  is  who  buys  a  good  Derby  winner,  or  a  stallion 
who  is  making  a  mark,  and  at  once  booms  him  for  all  he  is 
worth.  If  he  can  secure  a  full  list  for  three  years  he  sees  his 
way  to  a  recovery  of  his  purchase  money,  and  if  the  horse 
continues  his  success  beyond  that  time,  all  the  rest  is  profit. 
Buying  successful  stallions,  or  young  sires  who  are  sure 
to  catch  the  public  fancy,  is  a  rather  clever  form  of  gambling ; 
but  if  the  horse  is  new  to  the  stud  and  has  one  successful 
year  early  in  his  career,  the  trick  is  done,  for  he  instantly 
fills  at  an  enhanced  price  for  the  two  following  seasons,  and 
the  original  outlay  seldom  exceeds  what  a  horse  can  earn  in 
his  first  three  years. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  buyers  of  this  class  of  horse 
are  "  stuck  "  with  an  animal  who  fails  to  catch  the  rank  and 
file  of  breeders,  or  who  proves  himself  a  bad  sire,  but  as 
a  general  rule  the  commercial  racing  man  knows  how  to  take 
care  of  himself,  and  if  he  is  not  a  good  judge  of  horseflesh 


22  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

he  calls  in  the  aid  of  an  expert,  upon  whose  advice  he  can 
rely. 

Owners  of  the  present  day  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes — those  who  race  for  sport,  and  those  who  affect 
racing  with  a  view  to  making  money  at  it.  Of  the  former 
class  there  are  nothing  like  so  many  as  there  used  to  be. 
Time  was  when  there  was  a  breeding  or  a  racing  stud,  or 
both,  attached  to  the  possessions  of  many  great  noblemen, 
and  such  took  to  the  sport  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  as 
a  general  rule  patronised  a  certain  circuit,  or  a  certain 
number  of  meetings,  breeding  and  running  their  own  horses 
year  after  year  and  looking  upon  the  whole  thing  as  a 
necessary  accompaniment  of  wealth  and  position.  The 
railway  system  worked  a  change:  the  general  fall  in  rents 
tended  to  curtail  the  operations  of  the  landed  class,  and 
then  by  degrees  the  ranks  of  owners  were  swelled  by  the 
merely  moneyed  men.  The  modern  English  millionaire 
seems  to  incline  to  racing,  and  he  it  is  who  has  put  the 
prices  up  all  round.  Trainers  and  jockeys  are  now  paid  many 
times  more  than  they  were  fifty  years  ago,  and  altogether 
racing  is  a  more  expensive  pastime.  As  regards  the  trainer, 
his  expenses  have  been  almost  as  much  increased  as  those 
of  the  owner,  but  the  fees  paid  to  jockeys,  and  the  huge 
retainers  which  some  of  them  earn,  are  quite  beyond  the 
means  of  the  class  of  men  who  owned  horses  a  generation 
or  two  since,  and  such  have  for  the  most  part  retired. 

Whether  the  Turf  at  large  is  benefited  by  the  advent  of 
the  millionaire  is  open  to  doubt.  Breeders  certainly  secure 
advantages  which  were  denied  to  them  in  the  long  ago,  and 
the  owner  of  a  really  good  horse  can  always  find  a  market 
if  he  wishes  to  sell.  But  the  prices  all  round  have  become 
most  unduly  inflated,  and  in  consequence  an  altogether  false 
value  is  asked  and  often  given  for  horses  who  are  the  talk 
of  the  moment.  The  result  of  this  is  that  breeding  and 
owning  has  become  too  much  of  a  lottery.  Men  go  into  it 
because  they  hear  of  a  team  of  yearlings  averaging  over 
a  thousand  guineas,  or  because  the  two-year-old  winner 
of  a  single  race  has  changed  hands  for  ten  thousand;  thus 
the  whole  thing  becomes  more  a  commercial  speculation 


THE   POSITION  OF   THE   TURF       23 

than  anything  else,  and  the  elements  of  sport  are  gradually 
eliminated. 

Then  we  have  the  professional  owner,  who  deals  chiefly 
in  selling  platers.  His  object  is  money-making  pure  and 
simple,  and  he  works  just  as  hard  at  racing  as  the  trades- 
man does  at  his  shop.  He  certainly  helps  to  keep  the 
game  alive,  and  if  he  did  not  exist  the  Selling  Plates  would 
soon  come  to  an  end.  These  races  were  originally  estab- 
lished in  order  that  the  owners  of  big  studs  might  have 
a  chance  of  getting  rid  of  horses  which  they  did  not  think 
good  enough  to  keep.  This  at  least  was  the  idea,  and 
for  many  years  Selling  Plates  were  few  and  far  between. 
Now  owning  platers  is  a  business  which  calls  for  any 
amount  of  brain  power,  and  so  many  men  are  engaged  in 
it  that  at  a  huge  majority  of  meetings  there  are  two 
Selling  Plates  on  every  programme.  Naturally  the  clerks 
of  courses  encourage  such  racing  because  of  the  surplus 
which  so  often  accrues  to  the  race  fund  from  the  sale  of 
winners,  but  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  Selling  Plates  have 
been  responsible  for  a  class  of  owner  which  was  practically 
non-existent  not  much  more  than  half  a  century  ago. 


CHAPTER   II 
NEWMARKET 

Former  meetings  now  defunct — Changes  caused  by  railway  system — Cathedral 
town  fixtures — Number  of  horses  in  training — Comparison  with  former 
years— Newmarket — Description  thereof— Exorbitant  charges — "Hang  the 
good  gallop  " — G.  E.  Railway  specials — Advice  to  visitors — Cost  of  potatoes 
and  walking-stick — Countryman  visiting  London — Londoner  visiting  Don- 
caster — Discomforts  of  country  meetings — A  hotel  experience — Generosity  of 
bookmakers — Newmarket  training  grounds  before  breakfast — Road  from 
London  to  Newmarket — Six  Mile  Bottom — The  "  Ditch  " — View  obtainable 
there  from  the  racecourse — The  stands — The  town — Runaway  brougham — 
The  "Severals" — Bury  Hills — Limekilns — Watching  the  morning  work  — 
"Courses  for  horses" — Number  of  meetings  held — Craven  Meeting — Good 
and  bad  years  of  certain  stables — The  travelling  tout  who  wished  to  be 
cremated — First  Spring  Meeting  —  Second  Spring  Meeting  —  Newmarket 
Stakes — First  July  Meeting — Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes — Second  July — First 
October — Two  best  meetings  of  the  year — Second  October  Meeting — The 
chief  prizes — Houghton  Meeting — Description  of  courses — Beacon  Course 
dissected — Turn  of  the  Lands — A.F. — Rowley  Mile — Big  days — The  July 
Course — Suitable  for  long-distance  races— Newmarket  programmes  analysed 
— Five-furlong  racing — Disadvantages  of  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club- 
Setting  their  house  in  order. 

SUCH  changes  as  have  occurred  in  the  general  system 
of  racing  have  been  very  gradual,  though  during  the 
last  twenty  years  the  sport  has  become  much  centralised, 
and  now,  thanks  to  the  many  enclosures,  it  is  almost  possible 
for  a  Londoner  to  go  racing  every  week  of  the  year  without 
sleeping  out  of  town. 

In  its  infancy  the  sport  was  much  more  scattered  about 
the  country,  and,  curiously  enough,  there  was  nothing  like 
so  much  of  it  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London  as  there  was 
in  Yorkshire  or  the  Midlands.  Racing  in  its  early  days 
seems  to  have  been  most  popular  in  horse-breeding  dis- 
tricts, as  was  natural  enough.  Thus,  in  the  first  quarter  of 

24 


NEWMARKET  25 

the  century  Yorkshire  alone  could  boast  of  nearly  twenty 
meetings,  while  in  a  large  county  like  Surrey,  Epsom, 
Guildford,  Egham,  and  Reigate  were  the  only  centres  of 
racing,  and  Epsom  was  the  solitary  place  holding  more 
than  one  meeting  in  the  twelve  months.  The  Midlands 
enjoyed  plenty  of  horse-racing  in  those  days,  Staffordshire 
and  Worcestershire  providing  the  largest  number  of  fixtures ; 
but  now  in  England  and  Scotland  together  there  are  less 
than  fifty  places  where  racing  under  Jockey  Club  Rules  takes 
place,  and,  roughly  speaking,  about  three-fourths  of  the  old 
fixtures  have  disappeared  from  the  Calendar. 

The  why  and  wherefore  of  the  old  county  meetings 
ceasing  to  exist  are  plain  enough.  When  the  sport  became 
general  throughout  the  kingdom,  there  were  no  railways, 
and  each  meeting  depended  for  its  existence  upon  the 
local  support  it  received.  Its  promoters  worked  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  surrounding  gentry,  who  owned  the 
horses  which  ran  at  the  meeting,  and  who,  as  a  rule, 
trained  them  at  home.  The  attendance  was  almost  entirely 
local,  and,  naturally  enough,  the  stakes  were  of  small  value. 
When  a  King's  or  Queen's  Plate  was  run  for  horses  certainly 
came  from  other  counties,  and  in  some  districts  a  series  of 
country  meetings  formed  a  little  circuit,  round  which  various 
horses  travelled,  their  trainers  rarely  galloping  them,  except 
on  the  various  racecourses,  and  they  were  often  away  from 
home  for  a  month  at  a  time.  Between  the  different  towns 
where  racing  took  place  the  horses  walked  all  the  way, 
for  "  vanning "  by  road  only  had  a  short  existence,  the 
railway  being  brought  into  general  use  before  the  van 
system  had  become  common. 

With  the  advent  of  railways  everything  became  changed, 
and  Newmarket-trained  horses,  which  previously  had  done 
nine-tenths  of  their  racing  at  home,  and  had  been  sent  to 
such  a  meeting  as  Doncaster  for  not  more  than  a  decade 
or  two  previously,  began  to  appear  everywhere,  and,  in  like 
manner,  Yorkshire-trained  horses  made  periodical  visits  to 
Epsom,  Newmarket,  Ascot,  and  Goodwood,  if  thought  likely 
to  recoup  the  cost  of  their  journey,  with  possibly  an  eye 
to  something  more.  Thus,  about  the  middle  of  the  century, 


26  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

the  sport  at  the  larger  and  more  important  meetings  began 
to  assume  quite  a  national  character,  whereas  in  the  pre- 
railway  age  it  had  been  almost  entirely  local. 

At  the  present  day  the  adjective  local  can  only  be  applied 
to  the  least  ambitious  of  the  country  gatherings,  so  far  as 
the  runners  are  concerned,  and  even  to  these  meetings  an 
odd  horse  or  two  is  almost  invariably  sent  from  Newmarket. 
Northern  "  platers  "  seldom  come  South,  and  South-country 
horses  of  similar  calibre  do  not  often  run  north  of  the 
Trent ;  but  with  weight-for-age  and  handicap  animals  the 
case  is  quite  different,  and  they  are  sent  from  one  end  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  other,  if  a  race  is  advertised  that  is  likely 
to  suit  them.  Doncaster  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  York  and 
Lincoln,  were  the  great  battle  grounds  upon  which  North 
and  South  met,  and  at  the  present  time  North  and  South- 
country  horses  are  seen  in  about  equal  numbers  on  the 
famous  Doncaster  Town  Moor ;  but — and  this  is  a  some- 
what curious  circumstance — whereas  the  St.  Leger  in  its 
early  days  was  nearly  always  won  by  a  Yorkshire-trained 
horse,  and,  in  its  intermediate  career  was  very  evenly  divided 
between  North  and  South,  for  the  last  five-and-twenty 
years  it  has  been  the  prey  of  the  Southerner,  the  name  of 
no  Yorkshire  -  trained  horse  being  found  on  its  roll  of 
winners  since  Apology,  trained  by  the  brothers  Osborne 
at  Middleham,  credited  Parson  King  with  the  trophy  in 

1874- 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  we  find  that  racing  was 
vigorously  carried  on  at  nearly  all  the  cathedral  towns  in 
the  kingdom.  This  was  probably  because  they  were  also 
the  county  towns.  Anyhow  the  fact  remains  that,  of  the 
country  meetings  which  have  survived  the  rivalry  of  the 
modern  enclosure,  some  of  the  best  are  those  which  are 
held  beneath  the  shade  of  abbey  or  minster. 

In  this  category  may  be  included  York,  Lincoln,  Chester, 
Salisbury,  Worcester,  Ripon,  and  Carlisle ;  but  many  of  the 
cathedral  town  fixtures  have  disappeared,  viz.  Gloucester, 
Durham,  Lichfield,  Winchester,  Oxford,  Exeter,  Canterbury, 
Hereford,  and  Rochester.  The  strongest  have  survived,  and 
the  weakest  gone  to  the  wall ;  but  the  survivors  have  all 


NEWMARKET  27 

been  obliged  to  adopt  modern  ideas  and  to  charge  gate- 
money  wherever  it  is  possible.  What  really  killed  the  bulk 
of  these  meetings  at  cathedral  towns  and  a  host  of  other 
small  country  fixtures  along  with  them  was  the  enacting 
of  the  rule  that  every  race  "must  be  of  the  clear  value  of 
£100  to  the  winner,  and  the  advent  of  the  gate-money 
enclosure.  The  rule  and  the  enclosure  meeting  came  into 
existence  at  about  the  same  time,  and,  as  many  of  the 
country  meetings  were  held  on  common  land,  and  were 
not  able  to  levy  a  charge  for  the  outside  portions  of  the 
course,  they  found  themselves  unable  to  guarantee  five  or 
six  races  of  £100  apiece,  and  so  ceased  to  exist. 

A  constant  complaint  that  is  nowadays  made  is  that  we 
have  too  much  racing ;  those  who  put  forward  this  re- 
iterated opinion  being  certain  sections  of  the  racing  world. 
Turf  writers,  for  instance — and  turf  writers  referred  to  in 
this  connection  are  the  critics  of  racing  as  distinguished 
from  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  report  the  meetings — are 
continually  telling  us  that  the  supply  of  horses  is  not 
equal  to  the  demand.  Owners  and  trainers  sometimes  tell 
us  the  same  thing,  too  ;  but  an  examination  of  the  facts 
goes  to  prove  that  fields  are  on  the  whole  larger  than 
they  were  fifty  years  ago,  and  that  during  the  half-century 
the  number  of  horses  in  training  has  about  doubled. 

In  1827  1,166  horses  carried  silk;  in  1865  the  number 
had  risen  to  2,042;  whilst  in  1897  3,506  faced  the  starter. 
The  great  increase  has  been  with  regard  to  the  two-year- 
olds ;  and  quoting  figures  again,  we  find  that  in  1827  only 
142  two-year-olds  ran,  and  361  three-year-olds.  Thirty- 
eight  years  later,  in  1865,  the  two-year-olds  had  passed 
the  threes  as  far  as  numbers  are  concerned,  659  of  the 
former  having  carried  silk,  against  572  of  the  older  ones. 
In  1897  there  was  even  a  greater  change,  no  fewer  than 
1,358  two-year-olds  having  run,  against  941  three-year-olds. 

The  number  of  four-year-olds  and  upwards  running  at  the 
present  day  is  very  little  larger  than  it  was  more  than 
seventy  years  ago. 

Whether  Newmarket  is  the  oldest  racecourse  in  the 
country,  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  no  moment.  Racing  has  been 


28  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  chief  occupation  of  the  place  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years,  and  to  racing  it  owes  its  prosperity — almost  its  very 
existence.  The  town  of  Newmarket,  which  is  built  in  a  dip  of 
the  land,  is  practically  a  single  street  of  about  a  mile  in  length, 
with  various  back  settlements,  some  of  them  dilapidated 
and  disreputable  enough  in  appearance,  behind  this  street, 
and  clusters  of  villa  residences  and  training  stables  dotted 
about  the  outskirts.  It  is  situated,  partly  in  Cambridgeshire 
and  partly  in  Suffolk,  on  the  high  road  from  London  to 
Norwich,  and  is  sixty  miles,  exactly,  from  the  Metropolis, 
and  something  less  than  forty  miles  from  the  capital  of 
Norfolk.  Seeing  that  it  is  placed  in  a  low-lying  country, 
and  is  quite  close  to  the  fens,  it  has  a  somewhat  lofty 
altitude,  and  out  on  the  heath  there  is  nearly  always  a 
breeze.  The  air  is  exceedingly  bracing,  and  a  perfect  tonic 
to  those  in  need  of  a  change.  A  visitor  to  Newmarket  must 
be  prepared  to  pay  extra  prices  for  accommodation  in  the 
race  weeks,  and  at  all  times  the  place  is  a  dear  one  to 
live  in,  though  the  actual  marketing  is  cheap  enough. 
Naturally  there  is  a  good  demand  for  houses,  as  many  of 
the  members  of  the  Jockey  Club,  and  a  fair  proportion  of 
the  "big"  owners  of  racehorses,  maintain  an  establishment 
at  headquarters  all  the  year  round.  This  alone  causes  house- 
rent  to  be  very  high,  and  I  have  known  of  a  villa  and 
stabling  changing  hands  at  £1 5,000,  which  would  have 
been  dear  at  less  than  a  fourth  the  price  elsewhere,  and 
not  worth  more  than  .£5,000  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames. 
Another  common  plan  is  to.  rent  furnished  houses  by  the 
year,  or  for  an  individual  meeting,  and  in  this  case  also 
rents  are  very  high,  as  much  as  £100  being  frequently 
demanded  for  an  ordinary  house  of  twelve  or  fourteen  rooms 
during  a  race  week. 

With  regard  to  lodgings  it  is  much  the  same ;  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  guineas  a  week  for  a  sitting-room,  bed- 
room, and  dressing-room  being  generally  asked  for  the 
best,  while  three  guineas  per  room  per  week  is  a  favourite 
charge  for  what  we  may  call  the  second  best.  There  are 
cheaper  rooms  of  the  cottage  order,  but  they  offer  very 
uncomfortable  accommodation,  though  they  too  bring  in 


NEWMARKET  29 

far  more  than  their  value.  To  put  it  briefly,  a  sitting-room 
and  bedroom  which  would  let  for  thirty  shillings  a  week 
in  the  West  End  of  London  can  command  ten  pounds  for 
a  race  week  at  Newmarket.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  general 
public  have  grown  tired  of  these  exorbitant  charges,  and 
many  of  the  regular  habitues,  taking  advantage  of  the 
facilities  for  economy  offered  by  the  railway,  travel  from  and 
to  London  by  special  train  every  day,  or  else  take  up  their 
quarters  at  Cambridge,  Ely,  or  Bury  St.  Edmunds  for  the 
week.  Some  fix  themselves  for  the  time  being  at  the  neigh- 
bouring villages,  and  Exning,  Dullingham,  Burwell,  and  even 
Mildenhall  and  Barton  Mills,  can  claim  a  few  at  the  summer 
fixtures.  As  to  the  railway  facilities  referred  to,  the  first- 
class  return  fare  between  London  and  Newmarket  is  nineteen 
shillings  and  eightpence,  but  the  Great  Eastern  Railway 
issue  tickets  for  each  of  the  series  of  meetings  at  an  enor- 
mous reduction.  Thus  there  are  three  meetings  in  the  spring 
within  a  period  of  five  weeks,  during  which  there  are  eleven 
days'  racing,  and  for  this  series  a  first-class  ticket  costs 
£4  los.  The  cost  of  eleven  tickets  at  IQS.  %d.  would  be 
£10  i6s.  4^?.,  so  the  contract  ticket  takes  one  down  at  less 
than  half  the  ordinary  fare.  The  same  policy  is  pursued 
at  the  autumn  meetings,  and  by  this  means  those  who  do 
not  mind  the  journey  can  do  their  Newmarket  meetings 
from  London  at  less  than  half  the  cost  they  would  incur 
if  they  stayed  at  the  town  itself. 

Of  course  the  up-and-down  travellers  miss  the  morning 
work,  to  the  lover  of  the  horse  Newmarket's  greatest 
attraction  ;  but  with  many  followers  of  racing  the  morning 
work  —  nay,  even  the  horses  themselves — are  not  of  the 
least  importance.  "  So-and-so  went  a  good  gallop  this 
morning,"  I  heard  a  well-known  tout  exclaim  to  a  big 
backer  in  the  Birdcage  one  day.  "  Hang  the  good  gallop," 
answered  the  backer ;  "  all  I  want  is  to  see  the  '  heads ' 
back  him  when  his  number  goes  up."  On  each  racing  day 
the  G.E.R.  run  three  or  four  specials  from  St.  Pancras  and 
Liverpool  Street  to  Newmarket,  and  two  or  three  back  again 
after  the  racing.  It  is  quite  an  easy  matter  to  be  able 
to  breakfast  at  one's  usual  time  in  town,  see  the  full  pro- 


30  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

gramme  at  Newmarket  run  through,  and  dine  in  town  at 
eight  o'clock. 

The  real  lover  of  racing  in  its  highest  aspect  will,  however, 
suffer  some  slight  inconveniences,  and  stay  at  headquarters. 
If  he  is  a  wise  man,  and  not  a  very  rich  one,  he  will  probably 
find  it  best  to  take  a  cottage,  and  furnish  a  bedroom  and 
sitting-room  for  himself.  He  will  then  either  take  a  cook, 
or  a  valet  who  can  cook,  with  him  each  time  he  goes  down, 
and  shut  the  house  up  when  he  leaves,  or  else  he  will  secure 
the  services  of  a  permanent  housekeeper,  who  wishes  to  live 
rent-free,  and  who  will  look  after  him  when  he  is  down. 
Such  housekeepers  are  perhaps  not  easily  found,  but  I 
knew  of  a  case  in  which  a  married  "  head  lad  "  and  his  wife 
(with  no  children)  were  put  into  the  cottage  to  reside.  They 
lived  there  altogether,  and  waited  on  my  friend  during  the 
race-weeks,  or  when  he  came  down  to  try  his  horses.  As 
it  happened,  they  were  a  useful,  willing  couple,  the  "  head 
lad  "  not  being  above  cleaning  his  visitor's  boots  and  brush- 
ing his  clothes.  In  fact,  this  particular  arrangement  answered 
capitally,  and  my  friend,  who  had  previously  had  consider- 
able experience  of  Newmarket  lodgings,  used  to  say  that 
the  new  method  was  far  more  comfortable,  and  cost  half 
the  money.  I  may  suggest  that  when  such  a  system  is 
adopted  it  is  as  well  to  bring  down  as  many  eatables  and 
drinkables  as  possible,  for  Newmarket  prices  for  the  neces- 
saries of  life  rise  to  an  awful  height  during  race  weeks. 
Amongst  the  many  excessive  charges  I  have  had  to  endure 
the  most  exorbitant  was  when  I  was  called  upon  to  pay  three 
shillings  a  pound  for  new  potatoes  in  the  Craven  week,  when 
the  regular  price  was  eightpence  or  ninepence.  That  was  in 
lodgings,  and  as  I  was  just  leaving  I  had  no  time  to  ascer- 
tain what  percentage  the  landlady  was  adding  for  herself. 
Once  I  wanted  a  walking-stick,  and  thought  that  an  ash- 
plant  would  not  cost  very  much.  I  saw  a  bundle  at  a  shop 
door,  the  sort  of  sticks  one  may  buy  for  about  ninepence  in 
any  country  market ;  three  shillings  and  sixpence  I  was 
asked  for  it,  and  when  I  explained  to  the  shopman  that 
his  demand  was  a  little  over  the  regular  price,  his  reply  was, 
"  Oh,  but  it's  race  week  ;  we  must  make  a  bit  of  money  in 


NEWMARKET  31 

the  race  weeks."  Such  extortionate  charges  are  far  from 
being  confined  to  new  potatoes  and  ash-plants. 

Here  I  have  sounded  the  keynote  to  the  greatest  nuisance 
and  humbug  there  is  in  connection  with  the  turf,  and 
given  the  chief  reason  why  the  Park  meetings  near  London 
are  all  such  great  successes.  At  these  gatherings  there  is 
no  putting  up  of  prices,  except  on  the  part  of  the  railway 
companies,  but  at  every  country  race  meeting  in  the  king- 
dom the  racing  man  is  a  prey  to  exorbitant  charges.  He 
is  asked  double  and  treble  fare  by  his  cabman,  he  often  pays 
twice  what  he  should  do  at  his  hotel,  and  he  is  expected  to 
fee  anyone  and  everyone  while  travelling  to  and  from  the 
meeting.  Guards  and  porters  seem  to  look  upon  him  as 
their  lawful  prey ;  and  if  by  some  trifling  act  they  help  to 
make  his  journey  comfortable,  they  expect  to  be  well  paid 
for  doing  so.  The  boots  and  the  waiter  at  the  hotel  where 
he  stays  require  two  sets  of  tips — one,  something  that  is 
likely  to  win,  the  other  a  money  compensation  on  leaving. 
How  well  I  know  the  inevitable  boots  at  a  racing  inn! 
He  never  leaves  you  until  you  have  told  him  what  you 
think  will  win  the  big  race.  If  the  horse  wins,  he  meets 
you  with  a  long  face  as  you  come  home,  telling  you  that 
you  gave  him  so  little  encouragement  that  he  was  frightened 
to  back  it.  If  it  has  been  beaten,  of  course  he  backed  it, 
and  his  manner  suggests  that  you  should  make  good  the 
stake  he  has  lost. 

When  a  countryman  comes  up  to  London  for  the  Derby 
week  he  finds  that  the  tariff  at  the  hotel  he  is  in  the  habit 
of  using  is  the  same  as  usual.  The  prices  have  not  been 
raised  because  the  Derby  is  about  to  be  run,  and  though  the 
establishment  is  probably  filled  from  cellar  to  attic,  every- 
thing goes  on  quite  smoothly,  and  our  traveller  is  not  asked 
to  pay  above  the  regulation  charge.  In  fact,  barring  his 
journey  to  the  Downs,  and  his  stand  ticket,  he  need  incur  no 
extra  expense  beyond  what  is  inevitable  when  staying  away 
from  home ;  and  this  applies  to  all  the  fixtures  at  Sandown, 
Kempton,  and  the  other  Park  meetings  which  are  handy  for 
the  Metropolis.  Take  the  reverse  side  of  the  picture,  and 
imagine  a  casual  Londoner  purposing  to  attend  the  Septem- 


32  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

her  meeting  at  Doncaster.  To  begin  with,  if  he  wishes  to 
stay  in  the  town  itself  and  at  a  hotel,  he  must  secure  a  room 
weeks  beforehand,  and  the  choice  of  hotels  at  Doncaster  is 
exceedingly  limited.  I  need  not  go  into  minute  particulars, 
it  being  sufficient  to  state  broadly  that  he  will  have  to  pay  at 
least  a  guinea  a  night  for  his  bed,  however  miserable  the 
accommodation,  and  that  the  charge  for  his  breakfast  and 
dinner  will  be  raised  proportionately.  He  will  probably 
be  crowded,  uncomfortable,  and  badly  waited  on,  and  if  he 
is  a  coffee-room  visitor,  will  find  that  coffee-room  invaded 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  by  a  crowd  of  burly  "  Tykes," 
whose  appetites  are  in  keeping  with  their  enormous  pro- 
portions. 

I  have  in  my  mind  the  principal  hotel  of  another  town, 
where  the  great  racing  army  foregathers  two  or  three  times 
a  year,  and  this  inn  is  in  an  ordinary  way  a  really  good  one. 
I  have  had  occasion  to  visit  it  in  the  hunting  season,  and 
have  then  been  made  most  comfortable,  but  at  race  times 
the  discomfort  is  almost  indescribable.  It  has  been  my  lot 
to  survive  a  three  days'  stay  at  this  hostelry  several  times, 
and  on  one  occasion  I  made  a  few  notes  of  what  occurred. 
Although  I  had  then  been  using  the  hotel  at  race  times  for 
some  years,  and  had  taken  the  precaution  to  order  a  room 
some  weeks  in  advance,  I  was  informed,  when  after  some 
lapse  of  time  the  head  boots  recognised  me,  that  "the 

missus  says  you  are  to  sleep  out  in Street."     I  struck 

against  the  contemplated  arrangement,  and  after  a  while 
was  escorted  to  an  attic  on  the  top  floor.  The  room 
was  good  enough,  but  the  furniture  was  beneath  contempt, 
and  a  fourth-rate  old  tall  hat  on  the  top  of  the  chest  of 
drawers  and  a  hard-featured  black  hair-brush  on  the  thing 
that  represented  the  toilet  table  showed  signs  of  occupation. 
The  boots  grinned,  and  when  I  asked  him  what  it  meant, 
informed  me  that  he  thought  "  some  of  the  extra  waiters 
were  using  the  room."  I  descended  again,  and  after  a 
deal  of  argument  succeeded  in  procuring  more  comfortable 
quarters.  It  was  then  time  to  go  to  the  races,  and  the  hour 
that  should  have  been  devoted  to  luncheon  was  lost.  On 
my  return  the  coffee-room  was  invaded  by  a  rush  of  men. 


NEWMARKET  33 

Bookmakers  with  their  clerks,  trainers,  an  owner  or  two,  and 
members  of  the  general  public,  but  most  of  them  "  pro- 
fessionals "  of  sorts,  and  the  cause  of  their  rush  was  "  Table 
d'hote  6  to  8  p.m."  I  did  not  wish  to  dine  before 
eight  o'clock,  and  so  I  caught  the  head  waiter  in  the 
passage,  and  he  promised  to  do  his  best  for  me.  It  was 
almost  9  p.m.  before  he  could  find  me  a  quiet  corner,  but  the 
state  of  that  coffee-room  after  three  hours'  of  table  d'hote 
was  simply  horrible,  and  although  I  insisted  upon  a  window 
being  opened,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  rid  of  the 
smell  of  stale  food.  Then,  though  I  had  ordered  dinner, 
and  had  to  pay  beyond  even  the  race  tariff  for  what  they 
called  a  "  special "  dinner,  really  consisting  of  three  very  in- 
different courses,  they  kept  sending  me  up  the  remains  of  the 
feast,  in  the  shape  of  potatoes  which  had  been  cooked  for 
hours,  and  salad  that  looked  as  if  it  had  been  cut  some 
days  before.  To  add  to  my  discomfort,  two  or  three  large 
and  very  noisy  parties  remained  at  the  long  table,  and  were 
now  smoking  and  arguing  after  the  manner  of  this  class  of 
race-goer.  I  remember  that  a  member  of  one  of  these  groups 
approached  us  (I  had  a  friend  with  me),  flourishing  a  large 
and  very  gaudy  watch  and  chain,  and  solicited  us  to  take 
tickets  in  a  raffle  for  the  same.  It  belonged,  he  said,  to 

"  pore  old  Bob  ,  and  pore  old  Bob  -     -  was  down  on 

his  luck,  and  it  was  only  proper  that  his  old  pals  should 
do  him  a  turn."  But  we  did  not  know  the  gentleman,  we 
protested,  and  if  he  had  so  many  "pals,"  why  appeal  to 
strangers  ? 

The  bright  spot  amidst  the  discomfort  of  this  dinner  was 
the  very  strong  evidence  of  what  a  generous  man  the  average 
turfite  is.  With  regard  to  this  particular  watch  and  chain, 
it  afterwards  came  to  our  knowledge  that  the  straitened 
circumstances  of  "pore  old  Bob"  had  just  been  casually 
mentioned  at  this  dinner,  and  that  afterwards,  when  one 
well-known  bookmaker  had  heard  the  state  of  the  case, 
he  had  instantly  pulled  off  his  own  watch  and  chain  and 
sent  a  friend  round  the  hotel  with  it.  What  is  more,  they 
secured  some  five-and-twenty  or  thirty  tickets  at  a  pound 
apiece,  the  watch  was  duly  raffled,  and  the  money  sent 
D 


34  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

by  registered  letter  to  "  pore  old  Bob  "  by  the  next  morning's 
post. 

The  same  state  of  affairs  continued  to  the  end  of  our 
visit ;  and  since  that  time,  when  I  have  had  to  attend  the 
meeting,  I  have  stayed  forty  miles  from  the  town,  travelling 
to  and  fro  by  rail  each  day.  With  such  disabilities  to  con- 
tend with,  is  it  surprising  that  modern  race-goers  prefer  the 
comforts  that  new  meetings  provide  for  them  ? 

Though  I  have  attempted  to  describe  what  is  the  worst 
side  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Turf,  I  hasten  to  say  that, 
from  a  purely  racing  point  of  view,  Newmarket  is  21  Ibs. 
and  a  beating  in  front  of  any  other  place  in  the  kingdom 
where  the  sport  is  carried  on.  The  drawbacks  are  simply 
connected  with  the  pocket.  Those  who  do  not  mind  paying 
"  extra  risk "  can  be  as  comfortable  there  as  in  their  own 
homes,  and  to  do  the  meetings  comfortably  one  should 
take  down  a  hack,  or  hire  one  for  the  week.  Since  the 
Rowley  Mile  stands  were  built  hacks  have  not  been  much 
used  during  racing  hours,  and  at  the  Summer  Course,  in 
the  two  July  weeks,  they  have  almost  disappeared,  though 
a  good  many  are  used  as  a  means  of  conveyance  to  and 
from  the  course.  In  the  morning,  however,  unless  one  is 
very  keen  on  walking,  a  hack,  a  bicycle,  or  a  cab  is  absolutely 
necessary.  To  many  a  fine  morning  at  Newmarket,  in  a 
race  week,  is  more  interesting  than  the  races  run  later  in 
the  day,  save  when  there  happens  to  be  a  big  event  in  the 
programme ;  but  unless  the  Limekilns  gallop  is  open,  a 
great  deal  of  moving  about  from  place  to  place  is  inevitable, 
as  horses  are  galloped  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  and  at 
such  times  one  generally  wishes  to  see  the  cracks,  and  the 
horses  that  have  good  engagements  in  the  immediate  future. 

To  anyone  who  has  never  visited  Newmarket  some  descrip- 
tion of  its  celebrated  heath  and  training  grounds  may  be 
interesting.  In  order  that  the  uninitiated  may  be  able  to 
understand  the  general  constitution  of  the  greatest  racing 
and  training  centre  in  the  world,  let  us  approach  it  from 
the  London  side,  and  by  the  high  road.  This  road,  which 
leaves  London  by  way  of  Epping  Forest,  next  touches  the 
town  of  Harlow,  and  from  that  little  town  runs  parallel 


NEWMARKET  35 

with  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  as  far  as  Great  Chesterford, 
which  is  eleven  miles  south  of  Cambridge.  Between  Harlow 
and  Chesterford  it  passes  through  Sawbridgeworth,  Bishops 
Stortford,  Stanstead,  and  Newport,  and  anyone  at  all  versed 
in  turf  lore  can  easily  trace  the  former  greatness  of  this  once 
famous  highway  all  along  the  route.  At  Bishops  Stortford 
one  or  two  of  the  old  signboards  suggest  that  the  inns  were 
originally  established  to  attract  the  racing  men  of  the  last 
century,  as  they  travelled  to  the  Turf  Metropolis  by  road. 
The  great  inn  yards,  where  a  dozen  coach-teams  and  three 
times  the  number  of  post-horses  were  kept,  have  mostly 
disappeared,  or  shelter  oxen  and  cart-horses  instead,  but 
the  "  half-way  house  "  of  King  Charles  the  Second  remains, 
about  two  miles  north  of  Stanstead,  and  half  a  dozen  miles 
further  on  is  the  old-fashioned  roadside  house  where, 
according  to  local  belief,  Nell  Gwynne  put  up.  This  house, 
which  is  situated  close  to  the  railway  at  the  northern  end  of 
Newport,  can  be  seen  from  the  train  window,  and  a  sign  of 
its  former  importance  remains  in  the  crown  over  the  front  door. 
The  house,  like  many  of  the  lath-and-plaster  erections  in  this 
neighbourhood,  has  gallantly  withstood  the  ravages  of  time, 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact  is  in  very  much  the  same  condition 
it  was  two  hundred  years  ago.  At  Great  Chesterford  the 
road  and  the  railway  part  company,  the  road  veering  off 
to  the  right  (or  north-east)  of  the  line,  and  going  straight 
to  Newmarket,  by  way  of  Bourne  Bridge  and  Six  Mile 
Bottom,  while  the  line  goes  due  north  to  Cambridge  before 
the  turn  to  the  east  is  made.  It  thus  happens  that  the 
railway  journey  to  Newmarket  is  just  over  seventy  miles, 
while  the  road  takes  one  to  the  Blanton  Memorial  Clock — 
at  the  east  end  of  Newmarket  High  Street — in  ten  miles 
less.  From  Great  Chesterford  to  Bourne  Bridge  the  route 
is  prettily  wooded,  but  from  the  last-named  place,  where 
there  was  formerly  a  large  coaching-inn,  the  country  beyond 
is  somewhat  bleak  until  Six  Mile  Bottom  is  reached. 

At  Six  Mile  Bottom  Newmarket  may  be  said  to  be  begun. 
Hard  by  is  Hare  Park,  so  long  the  residence  of  the  late 
Duke  of  Hamilton,  and  at  one  time  I  believe  the  Heath 
used  to  reach  as  far.  Whether  they  ever  raced  from  Six 


36  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

Mile  Bottom  to  the  "  top  of  the  town "  I  do  not  know, 
but  the  starting-post  for  the  Beacon  Course  (4  miles 
397  yards  in  length)  is  only  a  few  fields  away  on  our  left, 
quite  close  to  the  road,  and  the  land  on  either  side  of  the 
road  is,  from  this  point  onwards,  mostly  laid  out  in  stud 
farms.  Still,  little  is  to  be  seen  by  the  traveller  by  road, 
which  winds  through  an  avenue  of  trees  for  at  least  three 
miles,  and  only  emerges  therefrom  at  the  old  toll-bar,  hard 
by  the  head  of  the  July  Course.  A  mile  before  reaching 
this  point  we  have  passed  the  Lordship  Farm  training 
establishment  of  Mr.  Joseph  Cannon ;  but  the  glories  of 
the  "  heath "  are  invisible  until  the  toll-gate  is  reached, 
and  here  Newmarket  is  in  panorama  before  us.  We  are  on 
the  fringe  of  a  wide  and  sweeping  plain,  with  considerable 
undulation  in  places,  and  the  town  itself  situated  about 
half-way  up. 

Immediately  beside  us  is  the  "  Ditch,"  a  prodigious  de- 
fensive construction  of  earth,  of  which  the  raised  escarp- 
ment is  far  more  prominent  than  the  ditch  at  its  base. 
It  is  some  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  about  its  origin  there 
are  many  stories.  I  do  not  know  that  any  really  authentic 
account  of  its  construction  is  to  be  found,  but  Mr.  W.  C. 
Manning,  the  well-known  racing  official,  and  an  authority 
on  such  matters,  says  that  it  was  made  by  the  East  Angles 
somewhere  about  600  B.C.,  and  that  it  was  built  as  a  line 
of  defence.  Its  chief  uses  now  are  threefold.  In  the  first 
place  it  serves  to  hide  the  July  Course  trial  ground  from 
sight ;  secondly,  it  offers  an  admirable  coign  of  vantage 
to  spectators  of  racing  on  the  July  Course,  which  is  often 
spoken  of  as  "  behind  the  Ditch " ;  and,  thirdly,  it  is  an  object 
of  veneration  with  the  superstitious  racing  man,  who  never 
omits  to  take  his  hat  off  or  bow  to  it  when  he  catches 
sight  of  it  from  the  train  window  on  his  way  to  a  meeting. 
The  "  Ditch "  stretches  from  Dullingham  nearly  to  Reach, 
a  distance  of  about  six  miles,  and  it  is  very  like  a  disused 
railway  embankment  that  has  been  spokeshaved  from  the 
bottom,  on  either  side,  almost  to  a  point  at  the  top. 

Standing  on  the  top  of  the  "  Ditch,"  where  it  crosses  the 
road,  looking  east,  with  our  backs  towards  Newmarket, 


NEWMARKET  37 

in  front  of  us  two  hundred  yards  away,  and  parallel  with 
the  "  Ditch,"  is  a  long,  narrow  plantation  of  beech,  which 
separates  the  heath  from  the  Heath  Stud  Farm.  Between 
the  "  Ditch "  and  the  plantation  lies  the  July  or  Summer 
Course,  with  its  stands,  enclosures,  and  paddocks.  Looking 
further  away — beyond  the  corner  of  the  plantation — one 
can  see  the  Round  Course,  and  to  the  right  of  this  one 
can  almost  discern  the  starting-post  of  the  Beacon  Course, 
though  it  is  nearly  three  miles  from  where  we  stand.  The 
Caesarewitch  starting-post  is  seen  plainly  enough  about  a 
mile  away,  and  the  eye  can  follow  the  line  of  the  course 
through  "  Choke  Jade  " — named  on  the  lucus  a  non  lucendo 
principle,  because  being  downhill  it  is  really  the  easiest 
bit  of  the  course — down  to  the  "  running  gap."  If  we 
face  round  and  look  to  the  west,  before  us  are  stretched 
hundreds  of  acres  of  grassy  heath.  The  Rowley  Mile  Stands 
are  right  in  front  of  us,  nearly  a  mile  away,  beyond  them 
is  the  Southfields  Ground,  and  beyond  that  again  the  South- 
fields  Farm.  On  fine  days  in  the  dim  vista  one  can  espy 
the  towers  of  Ely  Cathedral,  and  much  nearer  the  spire 
of  Burwell  Church.  Exning  nestles  amongst  the  trees, 
beyond  the  Southfields  Farm,  and  looking  over  the  top 
of  Newmarket,  the  Bury  Hills  and  Limekilns  are  easily 
discernible,  these  being  the  names  of  the  two  other  portions 
of  the  heath.  To  the  right  of  the  road,  and  just  beyond 
the  "Ditch,"  lies  the  Links  Farm,  with  its  steeplechase 
course,  stands,  and  paddock  complete,  as  recently  made 
by  Mr.  McCalmont,  M.P.,  of  Cheveley  Park,  and  all  this 
side  of  the  town,  i.e.  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
the  Beacon  Course,  is  what  is  generally  known  as  "  the 
Cambridge  side." 

All  the  Newmarket  racecourses  are  on  the  Cambridge 
side  of  the  town,  and  there  are  three  sets  of  stands 
and  no  fewer  than  seven  finishing-posts.  In  addition,  at 
least  one-half  of  the  training  takes  place  on  this  side.  The 
training  gallops  are  not  done  on  the  racecourses  themselves, 
but  immediately  alongside,  and  what  is  known  as  the 
Cambridge  Hill  is  the  most  popular  gallop  on  this  side 
of  Newmarket.  There  is  also  a  tan  gallop  of  nearly  two 


38  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

miles  in  length  and  various  trial  grounds,  while  certain 
spaces  are  set  aside  for  walking  exercise.  Resuming  the 
road,  after  travelling  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  measured  from 
the  "Ditch,"  we  reach  the  "top  of  the  town,"  where  the 
town  converges  on  the  heath.  To  the  left  is  the  old- 
fashioned  "Portland"  or  "Duke's  Stand,"  formerly  the 
finishing -point  of  the  Cambridgeshire,  but  now  rarely 
used,  except  occasionally  at  the  end  of  a  day  on  "  the 
Flat."  The  Craven  Stakes,  the  Criterion,  the  Criterion 
Nursery,  and  the  Old  Cambridgeshire  still  finish  here,  but 
the  Cambridgeshire  itself  was  moved  down  below  a  dozen 
years  ago  or  more,  and  has  since  been  run  so  as  to  finish 
at  the  Rowley  Mile  Stands. 

Continuing  our  journey  through  the  town  we  pass  the 
castellated  mansion  built  by  a  well-known  jockey,  but  now 
the  property  of  Sir  James  Miller.  Then  comes  a  training 
stable,  succeeded  by  two  or  three  brand-new  villas,  erected 
by  prosperous  tradesmen  of  the  town,  and  let  for  enormous 
prices  in  the  race  week.  Next  comes  a  public-house,  with 
a  bar  open  to  the  street.  More  private  houses  follow,  and 
there  is  a  steep  descent  to  the  High  Street,  in  which  are  the 
Jockey  Club  Rooms,  on  the  right,  going  eastward,  and  about 
the  centre  of  the  town. 

It  was  down  this  hill,  starting  on  the  Cambridge  Road, 
along  which  we  have  just  come,  that  Bill  Lang,  the  pedes- 
trian, once  ran  a  mile  in  4  min.  2  sec.  I  once  beat  that 
record  myself — in  a  runaway  brougham,  sharing  the  honour 
with  the  late  Mr.  J.  Comyns  Cole,  of  ever-cherished  memory, 
and  Mr.  E.  T.  Sachs,  his  present  successor  on  the  Field. 
Newmarket  was  once  a  great  place  for  pedestrian  feats, 
and  it  was  on  this  very  road  that  Captain  Barclay,  in 
1809,  performed  his  feat  of  walking  a  thousand  miles  in  a 
thousand  hours,  the  finish  of  which  was  witnessed  by  ten 
thousand  persons. 

The  Jockey  Club  Rooms  are  employed  as  a  place  of 
temporary  residence  by  a  few  members,  the  Prince  of  Wales 
invariably  staying  there.  Adjoining  are  the  offices  of  the 
Keeper  of  the  Match  Book,  an  honoured  and  venerable  title 
that  elsewhere  has  been  modernised  into  Clerk  of  the 


NEWMARKET  39 

Course,  and  on  the  other  side  is  the  Newmarket  Book- 
makers' Club,  where  the  leading  lights  of  the  betting  world 
assemble.  This  is  the  Newmarket  home  of  members  of 
the  Victoria,  Albert,  and  other  London  betting  clubs. 

Hereabouts  also  are  situated  the  principal  shops  where 
the  most  recently  exalted  jockey  apprentice  is  done  for  in 
the  approved  extravagant  fashion,  and  now  the  new  Hotel 
Victoria  takes  up  an  imposing  position.  A  little  beyond, 
with  a  corner  to  itself,  is  the  comfortable  "  Rutland,"  to 
which  the  same  visitors  return  year  after  year,  and  a  few 
yards  further  the  street  ends  somewhat  abruptly  at  four 
cross  roads.  To  the  right  lie  the  station  and  various 
training  stables,  to  the  left — which  is  the  Burwell  Road — 
many  more  training  stables.  Straight  on,  towards  Norwich 
or  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  that  part  of  the  heath — used  only  for 
training  purposes — known  as  the  Bury  Hills,  is  situated. 
On  the  left  is  the  "  Severals,"  a  cut-up  piece  of  ground  used 
for  walking,  and  very  popular  as  an  education  ground  for 
the  yearlings  in  the  autumn.  Beyond  the  "  Severals "  the 
road  is  flanked  for  a  mile  on  either  side  by  training  stables 
and  private  residences,  but  at  the  toll-bar  it  diverges  on  to 
the  heath  again,  and  the  road  forks  right  to  Bury,  and  left 
to  Norwich.  The  ground  between  the  two,  which  is  in  the 
shape  of  an  equilateral  triangle,  is  known  as  the  Limekilns, 
and  this  is  probably  the  best  training  ground  in  the  world. 
It  has  the  reputation  of  never  being  hard,  even  in  the 
droughtiest  of  weather,  and  this  is  owing  to  its  friable  sub- 
soil of  lime,  which  causes  the  surface  to  crumble  under  the 
heat  of  the  sun  and  the  drying  effect  of  the  wind.  The 
Limekilns  are  only  used  in  dry  weather,  and  thus  they  are 
never  allowed  to  be  cut  up  as  they  would  be  if  horses  were 
galloping  on  them  when  the  ground  is  soft.  Separated 
from  the  Limekilns  by  a  belt  of  narrow  plantation  of  lofty 
beech  is  the  eastern  end  of  the  Bury  Hills,  and  the  Warren 
Hill  lies  to  the  right  of  that,  and  the  Long  Hill  further 
round  to  the  south,  beyond  Newmarket  Station. 

All  these  training  grounds  are  kept  in  order  by  a  large 
staff  of  employees.  They  are  constantly  manured — peat 
moss  is  much  used — and  are  rolled,  bush-harrowed,  and 


40  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

otherwise  attended  to,  the  work  being  done  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Keeper  of  the  Heath.  This  functionary  also 
decrees  which  gallops  are  to  be  used  from  week  to  week,  and 
takes  care  that  any  particular  gallop  is  closed  when  it 
shows  signs  of  being  cut  up,  as  gallops  often  do.  There  is 
so  much  good  ground  available  on  either  side  of  the  town 
that,  in  a  general  way,  at  least  half  a  dozen  different  gallops 
are  open,  and  these  can  be  changed  as  often  as  it  is  neces- 
sary by  placing  "  dolls  "  on  the  worn  parts  until  they  have 
had  time  to  recover.  "  Dolls "  are  wooden  trestles  some 
eight  or  ten  feet  in  length,  and  about  three  feet  high,  and 
their  presence  naturally  prevents  the  trainer  from  taking  his 
horses  where  they  are.  The  Newmarket  training  grounds 
are  of  great  breadth  everywhere,  and  although  nearly  fifteen 
hundred  horses  are  trained  there,  it  is  quite  possible  to  find 
room  for  them  all,  without  being  obliged  to  crowd  them  into 
one  place,  as  would  be  the  case  with  horses  trained  on  a 
railed-in  course. 

For  example,  the  Limekilns  are  not  much  short  of  a  mile 
in  width  at  their  base,  and  horses  are  galloped  from  the  low 
— or  base — end  up  to  the  top.  About  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
can  be  covered  in  this  particular  spin,  and  in  an  ordinary 
way  at  least  half  a  dozen  different  tracks  are  open,  each 
divided  by  rows  of  "  dolls."  The  same  (system  is  pursued 
with  all  the  other  gallops,  and  the  various  tan  tracks  are 
harrowed  every  day.  At  the  bottom  or  eastern  end  of  the 
Limekilns  is  the  Water  Hall  or  Winter  Ground,  and  this 
is  open  to  the  Limekilns  in  several  places,  the  intervening 
spots  being  filled  up  with  groups  of  trees.  The  Water  Hall 
is  square  in  shape,  and  between  two  and  three  miles  round, 
and  from  the  eastern  end  of  it,  to  the  top  of  the  Limekilns, 
a  grand  trial  ground  for  a  Caesarewitch  horse  is  available. 
The  Limekilns,  by  the  way,  are  on  a  gradual  rise  from  the 
start  to  the  finish  of  the  gallops,  though  if  horses  are 
galloped  from  the  high  side,  near  the  Bury  Road,  the  ascent 
is  nothing  like  so  steep  as  when  they  are  started  near  the 
Norwich  Road.  The  Water  Hall  is  one  of  the  flattest 
gallops  at  headquarters.  Up  the  Bury  Hills  a  long  and 
very  trying  gallop  can  be  managed,  and  on  the  Cambridge 


NEWMARKET  41 

side  of  the  town  there  is  every  variety  of  gallop,  as  there  is 
also  every  variety  of  racecourse.  From  the  start  of  the 
Beacon  Course,  on  the  Bury  side,  to  the  furthest  point  on 
the  Bury  side  of  Newmarket  is  a  distance  of  nine  miles  in 
a  straight  line,  including  the  town  itself. 

The  time  to  see  the  work  on  the  Limekilns  to  perfection 
is,  as  a  general  rule,  in  either  of  the  July  weeks.  In  nine 
years  out  of  ten  much  of  the  going  at  Newmarket  has 
become  very  hard  about  this  time,  and  in  consequence  there 
is  a  rush  to  the  Limekilns,  and  horses,  whose  stables  are 
on  the  far  side  of  the  town,  are  often  taken  right  through, 
in  order  that  they  may  take  advantage  of  the  good  going. 
At  such  times,  from  before  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
about  half-past  ten,  the  place  is  alive  with  horses,  and  also 
with  lookers-on.  Ladies  on  horseback  grace  the  scene  by 
the  dozen.  Owners  and  their  friends  are  grouped  about, 
and  on  the  Norwich  Road  quite  a  string  of  cabs  and 
pony-carts  is  waiting.  A  bicycle  is  nowadays  probably 
rested  against  each  one  of  the  telegraph  posts  that  line 
the  road,  and  whilst  some  two  or  three  "strings"  or  "trainer's 
lots  "  are  doing  their  work,  in  twos  and  threes,  or  sometimes 
in  long-drawn  file,  many  other  strings  are  being  walked  out 
in  circles.  To  a  stranger  the  tout  ensemble  is  novel  and 
somewhat  bewildering.  Horses  he  sees  in  all  directions,  but 
amidst  such  numbers  he  is  quite  confused,  and  eagerly 
looks  for  someone  who  knows  the  ropes  and  can  help  him 
to  untangle  the  mystery.  To  an  habitue",  even  if  he  only 
sees  it  in  the  meeting  weeks,  the  whole  thing  is  quite  plain. 
He  knows  all  the  trainers,  at  least  by  sight,  and  probably 
most  of  the  owners  who  are  present  as  well.  At  a  glance 
he  recognises  one  string  by  its  blue  clothing,  a  second  by 
its  crimson  sheets,  and  a  third  from  the  face  of  the  head 
lad,  who  is  riding  alongside.  If  he  is  in  slight  doubt,  the 
lettering  or  coronet  on  the  clothing  helps  to  put  him  right, 
and  before  he  has  watched  many  minutes  he  has  picked  out 
the  older  and  better-known  horses  as  they  walk  past.  The 
two-year-olds  puzzle  him,  especially  those  which  have  not  run, 
still  he  knows  quite  enough  to  make  his  morning  most  en- 
joyable, and  he  probably  goes  home  with  a  fair  idea  as  to 


42  THE   ENGLISH    TURF 

what  condition  many  of  the  horses  are  in.  Of  course  the 
habitue  I  have  been  referring  to  is  the  man  with  an  eye 
for  a  horse — the  man  who,  having  seen  a  horse  in  the  Bird- 
cage at  Newmarket,  can  pick  it  out  again  in  a  South-country 
paddock  a  month  afterwards,  and  who  really  enjoys  racing 
because  of  his  innate  love  of  the  thoroughbred.  There  are 
many  such,  thank  goodness  ;  and  though  the  paddock 
humbug,  who  pretends  to  know  the  horses  but  really  does 
not,  is  always  abroad,  he  can  only  impose  on  those  who 
are  more  ignorant  than  himself.  By  the  way,  what  a  good 
thing  for  these  gentry  the  numbering  of  horses  in  the 
paddock  must  be. 

Needless  to  say,  there  are  many  racing  men  who  never 
can  acquire  sufficient  knowledge  of  horses  to  identify  them 
a  second  time,  for  speedy  recognition  of  a  horse  that  has 
been  seen  before  is  almost  a  gift.  I  remember  walking 
in  the  Doncaster  paddock  with  an  old  gentleman  who  had 
a  forty  years'  acquaintance  with  the  turf,  and  not  a  very 
superficial  acquaintance  either.  The  St.  Leger  favourite 
came  round,  preceded  by  a  stable  companion,  who  wore 
similar  clothing,  but  was  a  smallish  chestnut,  whilst  the 
favourite  was  a  strapping  bay.  Three  or  four  times  they 
passed  us,  and  my  friend  raved  about  the  favourite,  "  Such 
a  walker  he  was,  such  quarters  and  thighs,  and  what  condition 
his  water  mark  showed."  After  a  while  he  turned  to  speak 
to  a  friend  (this  was  when  the  favourite  and  his  stable  com- 
panion were  on  the  far  side  of  the  paddock),  and  just  at 
that  moment  the  favourite  was  taken  to  the  boxes  to  be 
saddled.  About  the  same  time  more  horses  had  joined  the 
paddock  circle,  and  as  the  chestnut  appeared  again,  with 
something  else  in  front,  my  friend  proceeded  to  point  out 
the  St.  Leger  favourite  to  his  friend,  who  was  waiting  to 
see  the  crack.  "  Such  a  walker,"  etc.,  he  began,  when  the 
other  man  said,  "But  that's  a  chestnut;  I  thought  that  Orme 
was  a  bay."  "  Chestnut,  do  you  call  it  ?  "  answered  the  old 
gentleman.  "  I  call  it  a  bay."  Poor  old  chap,  he  really  did 
not  know  the  difference  between  a  chestnut  and  a  bay,  let 
alone  one  horse  from  another;  yet  he  had  been  following 
the  sport  for  a  lifetime. 


NEWMARKET  43 

The  great  beauty  of  Newmarket  racing  is  that  for  every 
horse  can  be  chosen  the  course  which  suits  him  best.  A 
really  good  horse  is  equally  at  home  on  any  and  every 
course,  and  the  best  of  great  horses  are  quite  as  good  at  five 
furlongs  as  they  are  at  two  miles.  La  Fleche,  for  instance, 
won  the  July  Cup  of  six  furlongs,  and  the  Ascot  Cup  of 
two  miles  and  a  half;  but  she  was  an  exceptional  mare 
to  whom  all  courses  were  alike.  It  must  be  understood, 
however,  that  there  are  many  horses  who  must  be  well 
"  placed  "  if  they  are  to  come  out  in  winning  colours,  and 
a  clever  placer  of  horses  will  generally  run  his  nag  where 
he  knows  the  course  will  be  to  its  liking.  Supposing  the 
horse  is  trained  at  headquarters,  he  need  not  be  taken 
away  to  run,  for  every  sort  of  course  but  one  is  open  to 
him  on  the  heath.  He  can  be  placed  so  that  the  finish  of 
his  race  is  uphill,  downhill,  or  on  the  level ;  but  he  cannot 
get  a  circular  course,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  a  certain  class  of 
nag  does  much  better  round  the  turns  than  on  a  straight- 
away course.  At  Newmarket  all  the  courses  are  straight,  or 
nearly  so,  and  therefore  it  happens  that  the  weak  spot  in 
rogues  or  welshers  is  almost  invariably  found  out  there. 

Nowadays  as  many  as  eight  meetings  are  held  at 
Newmarket  during  the  course  of  the  racing  year.  Three 
of  these  take  place  in  the  spring — Craven,  First  Spring 
and  Second  Spring ;  two  in  the  summer — First  July  and 
Second  July ;  and  three  in  the  autumn — First  October, 
Second  October,  and  Houghton.  They  entail  twenty-nine 
or  thirty  days'  racing  amongst  them. 

The  Craven  Meeting  generally  has  a  four  days'  programme 
unless  it  falls  in  Easter  week,  and  is  perhaps  the  least 
interesting  of  the  series.  It  is  pretty  well  oflf  for  handicaps, 
but  its  weight  -  for  -  age  races  are  not  of  much  account 
nowadays,  and  it  includes  no  event  of  the  first  magnitude. 
The  Crawford  and  Babraham  Plates  are  its  principal 
handicaps,  and  there  are  three  of  what  I  may  term  second- 
class  three-year-old  prizes,  viz.  the  Newmarket  Biennial, 
the  Column  Produce  Stakes,  and  the  Craven  Stakes,  of 
which  the  two  first-named  are  run  on  the  Rowley  Mile,  and 
the  Craven  Stakes  on  the  Ancaster  Mile.  There  is  also 


44  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

a  Biennial  for  four-year-olds  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  some 
three  or  four  two -year -old  events.  The  meeting,  in  a 
general  way,  is  more  poorly  attended  than  any  of  the  others, 
but  it  enables  visitors  to  get  sight  of  such  of  the  more 
prominent  candidates  for  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  and 
Derby  as  are  trained  at  Newmarket,  and  it  occasionally 
brings  out  one  of  these  favourites  in  one  or  other  of  the 
races  mentioned  above.  For  instance,  St.  Frusquin  won 
the  Column  Produce  Stakes  a  fortnight  before  he  gained 
classic  honours  in  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas,  and  Jeddah, 
winner  of  the  Derby  in  1897,  had  previously  won  the  Craven 
Stakes.  Provided  the  weather  is  fine,  there  is  much  to  be 
seen  and  acquired  in  the  Craven  week.  One  hears  of  horses 
likely  to  win  spring  handicaps  still  to  be  decided,  and 
something  is  always  learned  of  likely  aspirants  to  two-year- 
old  fame.  Then,  if  a  prominent  performer  of  the  previous 
season  has  turned  roarer,  this  is  the  time  and  place  to 
find  it  out ;  but  perhaps  the  most  important  thing  of  all  is 
the  discovering  which  stables  are  in  form  at  the  moment. 
It  is  a  curious  circumstance  in  racing  that  few  stables 
preserve  a  regular  equilibrium  of  form,  and  that  this  is 
the  case  those  who  follow  the  horses  trained  in  any  one 
or  two  particular  stables  well  know.  Moreover,  both  the 
coming  into  and  the  going  out  of  form  are  often,  com- 
paratively speaking,  the  work  of  a  moment.  A  stable 
has  had,  let  us  say,  a  run  of  what  I  call  bad  form,  but 
what  the  public  and  the  sporting  writers  generally  call 
bad  luck.  It  shelters  horses  that  are  known  to  be 
good,  on  account  of  what  they  have  done  in  the  past. 
They  are  expected  to  win  all  sorts  of  races,  but  one  and 
all  unaccountably  fail,  and  no  one  seems  to  exactly  know 
why.  At  last  their  owners  (and  the  public)  become  tired 
of  backing  them,  and  with  many  men  they  are  shelved  or 
forgotten  for  the  time  being.  "  What  is  the  good  of  backing 
that  ?  the  stable  is  dead  out  of  form,"  we  hear  exclaimed ; 
but  the  bad  form  comes  to  an  end  one  day,  and  when  it 
is  least  expected  one  of  the  horses  wins  a  good  race,  and 
no  one  profits  thereby  except  the  men  who  stand  by  the 
rails  and  shout  for  their  living. 


NEWMARKET  45 

I  once  noticed  that  a  somewhat  small  stable  had  a 
capital  year,  a  long  way  the  best  it  had  ever  had  since  its 
existence.  During  the  following  winter  one  saw  all  sorts 
of  references  to  it  in  the  sporting  Press.  Amongst  its  team 
were  two  or  three  horses  who  figured  in  the  winter  betting 
on  the  Derby,  and  one  or  two  nags  whom  people  said  it 
was  impossible  to  handicap  out  of  such  races  as  the  City 
and  Suburban  and  the  Jubilee  Stakes.  In  February  it 
was  supposed  to  shelter  at  least  half  a  dozen  two-year-olds, 
any  one  of  which  was  good  enough  to  win  the  Brocklesby, 
and  there  were  rumours  of  better  to  follow,  later  in  the 
year — the  brothers  and  sisters  of  those  who  had  performed 
so  well  as  two-year-olds  in  the  previous  year.  When  the 
season  began  it  seemed  as  if  the  predictions  that  had  been 
so  freely  made  were  about  to  be  verified.  The  Brocklesby 
horse  was  only  just  beaten,  but  several  minor  victories  were 
scored  in  the  first  fortnight  of  racing  ;  then,  just  when  every- 
thing looked  well,  the  bad  form  set  in,  and  the  stable  ran 
horses  in  forty  odd  events  before  they  won  another  race. 
For  the  time  being  its  day  was  over ;  the  three- year-olds 
failed  to  maintain  their  two-year-old  form,  and  the  juvenile 
brothers  and  sisters  to  the  good  winners  of  the  previous 
season  could  hardly  win  a  Selling  Plate. 

Instances  innumerable  of  this  sort  of  thing  could  be 
quoted.  Only  a  few  years  ago  the  Kingsclere  stable  had 
brought  out  horse  after  horse  at  the  principal  spring 
meetings,  which  were  backed  by  the  public,  and  well  beaten. 
After  this  had  continued  for  three  months  turfites  were 
saying,  "What  a  really  bad  lot  of  horses  they  have  at 
Kingsclere."  On  the  Ascot  Tuesday  the  case  was  put  very 
forcibly  to  me.  I  was  in  the  paddock  an  hour  before 
the  meeting  began,  and  there  encountered  a  Newmarket 
"adviser."  As  a  rule  these  gentlemen  cannot  see  beyond 
the  horses  trained  on  the  heath,  and  very  often  not  beyond 
those  trained  in  one  or  two  stables,  but  this  worthy  travelled 
a  little,  and  was  much  more  of  a  cosmopolitan  tout  than 
are  most  of  his  brethren,  and  I  knew  him  to  be  a 
sound  judge  in  a  general  way.  Personally  I  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  Kingsclere's  time  had  come.  I  had 


46  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

heard  from  a  quite  reliable  source  that  the  famous  Hamp- 
shire establishment  was  likely  to  make  a  bold  show, 
which  I  suggested  to  my  friend  the  tout.  He  instantly 
curled  his  lip  and  delivered  himself  thus:  "Captain"  —  he 
would  call  me  Captain — "you  give  all  them  lot  a  miss  in 
baulk."  He  declined  to  argue  the  question,  but  I  saw 
him  late  on  the  Friday,  after  the  Kingsclere  stable  had 
won  about  a  dozen  races,  and  he  was  absolutely  the  most 
dejected  man  on  the  course.  He  just  shook  his  head 
when  I  accosted  him,  and  after  a  heavy  sigh  ejaculated, 
"  Captain,  stand  us  the  fare  to  Woking ;  I'm  going  to  be 
cremated  to-night." 

The  First  Spring  Meeting,  with  the  exception  of  the  Second 
October,  is  the  most  important  of  the  Newmarket  fixtures. 
It  is  always  a  four-day  meeting,  and  on  the  Wednesday 
and  Friday  are  decided  respectively  the  Two  Thousand 
and  One  Thousand  Guineas,  both  of  which  are  run  over 
the  Rowley  Mile.  Other  important  races  decided  in  this 
week  are  the  Hastings  Plate,  for  three-year-olds  on  the 
Ditch  Mile,  the  First  Spring  Two-year-old  Stakes,  and  the 
March  Stakes  for  three-year-olds  and  upwards  (on  the 
Rowley  Mile  until  1900,  when  it  was  run  "  Across  the 
Flat")  which  generally  attracts  one  or  two  of  the  highest 
class,  and  has  been  won  in  recent  years  by  Amphion, 
Sir  Hugo,  Grey  Leg,  Whittier,  Knight  of  the  Thistle,  and 
the  Australian,  Newhaven  II.  The  balance  of  the  pro- 
gramme consists  of  minor  events  and  Selling  races,  and 
it  may  be  added  that  the  Two  Thousand  day  is  one  of 
three  days  in  which  the  usual  Newmarket  crowd  is  enor- 
mously augmented  by  a  section  of  the  general  public,  who 
never  go  there  except  on  that  occasion  and  on  the  two 
days  in  the  autumn  set  down  for  the  decision  of  the 
Caesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire.  The  Two  Thousand 
Meeting,  being  held  in  May,  is  generally  favoured  with 
fine  weather,  but  no  matter  what  the  elements  may  be 
doing,  the  patrician  element  of  the  racing  world  is  present 
all  the  week,  and  the  heir  to  the  throne  is  a  constant 
attendant. 

The  Second  Spring  Meeting  is  conducted  on  a  much  quieter 


NEWMARKET  47 

scale.  Its  biggest  event  is  the  Newmarket  Stakes  for  three- 
year-olds,  and  since  this  old  stake  was  revived  in  1889  it  has 
been  won  by  such  horses  as  Donovan,  Memoir,  Mimi,  Isin- 
glass, Ladas,  Galtee  More,  Cyllene,  and  Diamond  Jubilee. 
It  has  often  been  remarked  that  such  a  race  for  three-year- 
olds  is  not  required  between  the  Two  Thousand  and  the 
Derby,  and  on  two  or  three  occasions  the  fields  have  been 
very  small ;  but  some  big  stake  was  required  to  keep  the 
meeting  going,  and  unless  a  handicap  of  at  least  equal 
value  had  been  substituted  I  hardly  see  that  anything  better 
could  have  been  done.  In  these  days  of  great  competition, 
when  valuable  prizes  are  being  offered  by  the  racing  com- 
panies nearly  every  week,  Newmarket,  seventy  miles  from 
town  by  train,  and  with  its  high  charges,  has  considerable 
difficulty  in  holding  its  own.  As  I  have  already  explained, 
the  casual  London  race-goer  will  not  go  there  when  he 
can  see  sport  at  his  own  door,  so  to  speak,  on  a  hundred 
days  in  the  year,  and  the  place  is  not  so  situated  that 
it  can  attract  a  Midland  or  Northern  crowd.  It  has  to 
rely  upon  London  and  an  exceedingly  thin  local  population, 
and  sometimes  the  attendances  are  so  weak  that  one  would 
think  that  it  could  not  possibly  pay  to  run  the  special 
express  trains.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
best  horses  in  training  run  at  headquarters,  while  the  best 
supporters  of  racing  as  owners  are  amongst  the  attendance, 
and  also  that  the  Jockey  Club  are  not  anxious  to  make 
a  profit,  but  are  satisfied  in  making  the  two  ends  meet, 
while  furnishing  the  best  of  sport.  It  naturally  results  that 
those  who  go  to  Newmarket  must  pay  highly  for  their 
amusement :  in  other  words,  entrance  to  the  stands  is  more 
costly  than  it  is  elsewhere.  That  the  Jockey  Club  is  anxious 
to  march  with  the  times — and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
they  have  no  huge  income  from  gate-money,  as  the  Parks 
have — is  proved  by  the  increase  in  value  of  the  Newmarket 
Stakes,  and  also  by  the  foundation  of  the  two  ten-thousand- 
pounds  stakes  run  later  in  the  year. 

The  Payne  Stakes  for  three-year-olds,  on  the  Rowley 
Mile,  is  also  run  at  this  meeting,  and  on  the  three  days 
there  are  several  good  two-year-old  prizes,  viz.  the  Somer- 


48  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

ville  Stakes,  Exning  Stakes,  Spring  Two-year-old  Stakes, 
the  Breeders'  Plate,  and  the  Bedford  Plate.  The  meeting 
is  badly  off  for  handicaps,  there  being  nothing  more  im- 
portant than  the  Newmarket  Handicap  (run  Across  the  Flat 
— one  mile  and  two  furlongs),  and  the  Flying  Handicap  on 
the  Rous  Course. 

The  First  July  Meeting  generally  commences  on  one  of 
the  last  two  or  three  days  in  June,  though,  as  a  rule,  it  is  not 
finished  until  the  month  of  July  is  reached.  The  running  at 
all  the  three  meetings  held  in  the  spring  takes  place  on  the 
Flat,  with  an  odd  race  or  two  finishing  at  the  Portland  Stand, 
up  the  severe  Criterion  Hill.  The  headquarters  of  the  racing 
at  the  spring  meetings  are  the  Rowley  Mile  Stands,  and  the 
various  courses  used  are  portions  of  the  four-mile  Beacon 
Course ;  but  the  scene  is  transferred  nearly  a  mile  for  both 
the  July  fixtures,  when  all  the  racing  takes  place  "  behind 
the  Ditch,"  on  portions  of  what  used  to  be  called  the  Summer 
Course.  The  earlier  of  the  two  gatherings  is  much  the  more 
important.  Two-year-old  races  form  a  strong  part  of  the 
programmes  in  both  weeks,  the  July  Stakes  at  the  first,  and 
the  Chesterfield  Stakes  at  the  second  fixture,  generally 
bringing  out  the  best  class.  In  1894  tne  Princess  of  Wales' 
Stakes,  of  the  value  of  £10,000,  for  three  and  four-year-olds, 
was  established,  and  this  is  the  most  important  stake  decided 
at  Newmarket  in  the  summer.  It  is  run  on  the  Bunbury 
Mile,  and  has  already  been  won  by  such  as  Isinglass,  St. 
Frusquin,  and  Flying  Fox.  It  is  decided  on  the  third  day 
of  the  fixture,  on  which  is  also  run  the  July  Cup,  a  six- 
furlong  race  which  is  generally  won  by  the  best  sprinter  of 
the  year.  The  July  Stakes  for  two-year-olds  is  decided  on 
the  first  day  of  the  meeting,  and  this  is  one  of  some  half- 
dozen  races  which  are  considered  to  be  true  tests  of  the 
two-year-old  form  of  the  year,  the  others  being  the  Wood- 
cote  Stakes  at  Epsom,  the  Coventry  and  New  Stakes  at 
Ascot,  the  Champagne  Stakes  at  Doncaster,  and  the  Middle 
Park  and  Dewhurst  Plates,  run  at  the  Newmarket  autumn 
fixtures.  Besides  the  July  Stakes,  two-year-olds  can  run 
this  week  in  the  Exeter  Stakes,  the  Stud  Produce  Stakes, 
the  Plantation  Stakes,  the  Fulbourne  Stakes,  and  the 


NEWMARKET  49 

Princess'  Cup,  and  as  the  handicaps  are  only  of  minor 
importance,  those  who  do  not  care  for  two-year-old  racing 
might  just  as  well  give  the  meeting  a  wide  berth.  The 
Second  July  Meeting  has  no  really  big  event  on  its  pro- 
gramme, but  there  are  plenty  of  good  second-class  races 
to  be  contested,  and  the  sport  is  often  quite  as  good  as 
that  which  has  been  seen  on  the  same  ground  a  fortnight 
before.  Again  two-year-olds  play  an  important  part,  the 
Chesterfield  Stakes  being  the  most  valuable  prize  for 
youngsters.  Then  there  are  the  Soltykoff  Stakes  and  the 
Two-year-old  Stakes,  and  fair  three-year-old  prizes  in  the 
Zetland  and  Midsummer  Plates,  besides  handicaps  of  a 
rather  better  sort  than  those  of  the  first  week. 

With  the  First  October  Meeting  (the  early  days  of  which 
are  always  in  September)  we  get  back  to  the  Flat,  which 
is  the  scene  of  the  three  autumn  fixtures.  The  programme 
for  the  first  of  this  series  of  meetings  is  just  an  average  one, 
by  no  means  so  strong  as  those  of  the  two  meetings  which 
follow.  The  Jockey  Club  Stakes  of  a  mile  and  two  furlongs 
is  its  trump  card,  and  this  was  established  in  1894,  an<^ 
already  has  such  names  as  Isinglass  and  Persimmon  and 
Flying  Fox  on  its  roll  of  winners.  The  Great  Foal  Stakes 
and  Newmarket  St.  Leger  for  three-year-olds  are  also 
decided  at  this  meeting,  and  a  Triennial  for  four-year-olds 
over  a  two-mile  course.  The  Great  Eastern  Railway 
and  Newmarket  October  are  the  chief  handicaps,  and 
the  Rous  Memorial,  Rutland,  Boscawen,  Buckenham,  and 
First  October  Stakes  the  principal  two-year-old  prizes.  On 
the  whole  the  First  October  is  a  quiet  meeting,  and  nothing 
like  so  well  attended  as  the  two  which  follow  it.  Many  of 
the  habitue's  have  not  returned  from  Scotland,  Homburg, 
or  elsewhere,  and  in  spite  of  the  Jockey  Club  Stakes  the 
fixture  hardly  holds  its  own. 

Just  the  reverse  may  be  written  concerning  the  Second 
October  Meeting,  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  quite  the  most 
popular  of  the  Newmarket  series  of  eight.  The  weather 
is  sometimes  bad,  and  perhaps  more  often  doubtful  and 
cold,  but  the  fixture  is  better  attended  than  any  of  the 
others,  and  this  must  be  entirely  set  down  to  the  excellence 


50  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

of  the  racing.  Yet  there  is  no  "  classic "  event  on  the  pro- 
gramme— no  ten-thousand-pounder,  as  at  the  previous  meet- 
ing, or  other  very  valuable  prize — but  somehow  the  card  for 
each  day  is  most  attractive,  and  as  a  general  rule  about  nine 
of  the  best  ten  horses  in  training  (of  every  age)  are  seen 
under  silk  during  the  week.  Had  I  the  chance  of  only 
two  weeks'  racing  in  the  year,  I  should  certainly  choose 
Ascot  and  the  Second  October  Meeting  at  Newmarket, 
in  preference  to  all  others,  and  with  plenty  of  experience 
behind  me,  I  should  take  care  to  be  provided  with  thick 
winter  clothing  and  the  strongest  of  boots — though  every 
now  and  then  the  meeting  is  favoured  with  a  touch  of  Indian 
summer,  when  flannels  and  straw  hats  can  perform  their  last 
duty  of  the  year. 

Tuesday's  card,  as  a  rule,  embraces  four  races  which 
bring  out  horses  of  the  best  class,  viz.  the  Clearwell 
Stakes  for  two-year-olds,  the  Champion  Stakes  (run  until 
1899  "Across  the  Flat,"  but  lengthened  in  1900  to  the 
last  mile  and  three-quarters  of  the  Caesarewitch  Course)  for 
three  and  four-year-olds,  the  Newmarket  Oaks  on  the  Two 
Middle  Miles,  and  the  Royal  Stakes  for  three-year-olds, 
which  is  decided  Across  the  Flat.  On  Wednesday  the 
Caesarewitch,  the  most  important  handicap  of  the  year,  is 
decided.  This  race  is  run  over  a  course  of  two  miles  and 
a  quarter,  and  I  call  it  the  greatest  handicap  of  the  season 
because  a  Caesarewitch  winner  takes  higher  stud  rank  with 
most  breeders  than  does  the  winner  of  any  other  long- 
distance race  of  the  year,  the  Ascot  Gold  Cup  alone  ex- 
cepted.  A  Caesarewitch  winner  must  be  a  genuine  stayer, 
and  though  occasionally  a  moderate  horse  gets  home  with 
a  light  weight  on  its  back,  the  race  has  been  won  by  many 
famous  nags,  and  fillies — always  fit  at  this  time  of  the  year — 
are  often  seen  to  the  greatest  advantage.  In  the  last  twenty 
years,  for  instance,  Robert  the  Devil,  Corrie  Roy,  St.  Gatien, 
Plaisanterie,  T^nebreuse,  and  Sheen  have  helped  to  swell 
the  list  of  winners  ;  and,  taking  the  race  from  its  initiation  up 
to  the  present  time,  no  other  handicap  can  show  such  a  list  of 
winners.  At  first  glance  the  bead-roll  of  the  Jubilee  Stakes 
at  Kempton  Park  may  read  more  brilliantly,  but  the  Jubilee 


H      " 


1  1 


NEWMARKET  51 

Stakes  is  run  on  a  mile  course,  and  great  as  the  achievements 
of  Minting,  Bendigo,  and  Victor  Wild  have  been  in  this,  the 
most  popular  of  the  Spring  Handicaps,  they  cannot,  in  my 
opinion,  compare  with  such  a  performance  as  that  of  Sheen 
in  the  Caesarewitch,  nor  with  that  of  St.  Gatien  winning  the 
same  race  under  8  st.  10  Ibs.  when  only  a  three-year-old. 
On  Thursday  the  principal  items  are  the  Bretby,  and 
Prendergast  Stakes  for  two-year-olds,  the  Challenge  Plate 
for  all  ages,  and  the  Lowther  Plate  for  three-year-olds.  On 
Friday  the  big  event  is  the  Middle  Park  Plate,  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  the  two-year-old  Derby,  and  almost  invariably 
won  by  a  good  horse,  the  names  of  Galtee  More,  St. 
Frusquin,  Ladas,  Isinglass,  Orme,  Signorina,  and  Donovan 
all  occurring  during  the  last  ten  years. 

The  Houghton  Meeting,  at  which  the  curtain  is  rung 
down  on  racing  for  the  year  at  Newmarket,  has  also  a  strong 
programme,  and  though  the  weather  often  acts  as  a  spoil- 
sport, it  is  quite  one  of  the  best  of  the  Newmarket  fixtures. 
Its  principal  handicap  is  the  Cambridgeshire,  and  the 
Cambridgeshire  perhaps  takes  more  winning  than  any  other 
similar  race  in  the  whole  season.  A  Cambridgeshire  winner 
does  not  afterwards  take  such  high  rank  as  a  Caesarewitch 
winner,  because  his  triumph  is  achieved  on  a  course  which  is 
more  than  a  mile  shorter,  but  the  Cambridgeshire  is  famous 
for  good  performances  on  the  part  of  great  horses,  and  not- 
ably Foxhall,  when  a  three-year-old,  won  it  with  9  st.  in  the 
saddle,  while  with  only  2  Ibs.  less  to  carry  the  French  mare 
Plaisanterie  was  victorious,  a  fortnight  after  she  had  won  the 
Caesarewitch.  Another  great  performance  in  this  race  was 
that  of  Florence  (9  st.  I  lb.),  in  1884,  and  eight  years  later 
La  Fleche  won  under  8  st.  10  Ibs.,  being  at  the  time  a  three- 
year-old.  In  the  list  of  winners  are  also  to  be  found  the 
names  of  See  Saw,  Montargis,  Peut-etre,  Isonomy,  Bendigo, 
and  Winkfield's  Pride,  and  however  the  race  may  result  it 
invariably  draws  a  large  field  of  high-class  horses,  some  of 
the  best  "classic"  form  being  generally  represented  every 
year,  though  such  representatives  are  not  always  successful, 
as  witness  the  defeat  of  the  twenty-thousand-guinea  Galtee 
More  in  1897.  On  the  first  day  of  the  Houghton  Meeting 


52  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  Criterion  Stakes  for  two-year-olds  generally  takes  a 
good  deal  of  winning,  and  on  this  day  the  Troy  Stakes 
is  also  decided,  besides  the  Limekiln  Stakes  for  threes  and 
fours,  and  the  Scarborough  Stakes  for  three-year-olds  only. 
On  the  Cambridgeshire  day  the  Cheveley  Stakes  for  two- 
year-olds  and  the  Subscription  Stakes  for  all  ages  help 
to  swell  the  programme,  while  the  Dewhurst  Plate  stands 
out  on  Thursday's  card,  and  has  been  won  by  such  celebrities 
as  Kisber,  Ormonde,  Donovan,  Orme,  and  St.  Frusquin. 
Another  big  event  decided  on  the  same  afternoon  is  the 
Free  Handicap  for  three-year-olds,  and  on  Friday  the  Jockey 
Club  Cup  takes  premier  rank,  though  it  is  many  a  long  year 
since  there  has  been  anything  like  a  field  for  this  race.  The 
Houghton  Stakes  and  the  Free  Handicap  for  two-year-olds 
help  to  fill  the  bill  on  the  last  day,  and  the  two  last  races  (of 
the  programmes  of  late  years)  are  decided  at  the  "  top  of  the 
town,"  these  being  the  Old  Cambridgeshire  Handicap  and 
the  Criterion  Nursery,  both  run  up  the  severe  hill,  finishing 
at  the  Portland  Stand. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  all  the  racing  which  takes 
place  in  the  spring  and  again  in  the  autumn  at  Newmarket 
is  decided  on  various  portions  of  the  Beacon  Course.  That 
same  Beacon  Course  is  4  miles  i  furlong  177  yards  in 
length,  and  has  its  starting-post  close  to  the  Cambridge 
Road,  about  three  miles  and  a  half  from  the  Portland  Stands 
in  a  bee-line.  It,  however,  zig-zags  slightly  in  places,  and 
these  deviations  cause  it  to  exceed  the  bee-line  by  some- 
thing over  half  a  mile.  The  early  part  of  it  is  fairly  flat,  but 
nowadays  the  first  mile  is  never  used  save  when  there 
happens  to  be  a  contest  for  the  Whip.  About  a  mile  from 
the  Beacon  Course  starting-post  is  the  Caesarewitch  starting- 
post,  and  from  this  point  to  the  Portland  Stand  is  about 
three  miles  and  a  quarter,  and  on  this  three  miles  and  a 
quarter  there  are  five  winning-posts  and  about  twenty 
different  courses.  From  the  Caesarewitch  starting-post  to 
the  running  Gap — where  the  course  bisects  the  Ditch,  or 
Devil's  Dyke — there  is  a  considerable  descent.  Just  as 
the  Ditch,  or  the  running  Gap,  is  reached  the  ground  rises 
somewhat  abruptly  for  seventy  or  eighty  yards,  and  then 


NEWMARKET  53 

comes  an  almost  dead  level  of  some  six  or  seven  furlongs  to 
the  Bushes  (a  couple  of  rather  stunted  hawthorns,  carefully 
preserved  by  being  fenced  round).  There  is  perhaps  a  very 
slight  rise  from  "  the  entrance  of  the  rails "  up  to  "  the 
Bushes,"  and  then  comes  a  sharp  descent  into  the  "  Dip," 
or  the  "  Abingdon  Mile  Bottom,"  as  it  is  more  correctly 
called.  From  the  Abingdon  Mile  Bottom  to  the  Rowley 
Mile  winning-post  (opposite  the  Jockey  Club  Stand)  there 
is  a  rather  steep  ascent,  and  it  may  be  added  that  this 
particular  winning-post  is  more  used  than  any  of  the  others. 
From  the  Beacon  starting-post  to  the  Ditch  the  course 
points  towards  the  east.  At  the  running  Gap  it  swings  a 
little  to  the  right,  and  points  more  in  a  westerly  direction 
until  the  Rowley  Mile  Stands  and  paddock  are  passed.  It 
then  bears  slightly  to  the  left  again,  and  is  perfectly  straight 
to  the  final  finishing-post  at  the  Portland  Stand. 

Just  beyond  the  paddock  the  hill  rises  very  sharply,  and 
in  fact  from  the  "  Turn  of  the  Lands,"  six  furlongs  below 
the  Portland  Stand,  it  is  all  on  the  rise,  except  perhaps 
the  last  200  yards,  which,  if  not  quite  on  the  flat, 
are  much  easier.  The  full  Caesarewitch  Course,  which 
finishes  at  the  Rowley  Mile  Stand,  is  not  much  in  re- 
quisition. There  are,  however,  a  few  races  over  the  Two 
Middle  Miles,  and  these  begin  at  the  Caesarewitch  starting- 
post  and  finish  at  the  Bushes,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below 
the  stands.  On  the  Flat,  which  is  that  part  of  the  Beacon 
Course  which  lies  between  the  running  Gap  and  the  Rowley 
Mile  Stands,  there  is  a  variety  of  courses,  perhaps  the 
best -known  of  which  is  the  Rowley  Mile.  All  of  them 
are  portions  of  the  course  called  "  Across  the  Flat "  (A.F. 
for  short),  this  course  comprising  a  mile  and  two  furlongs. 
The  Rowley  Mile  is  the  last  mile  of  A.F.  (plus  u  yards), 
the  Dewhurst  Plate  Course  the  last  seven  furlongs,  the 
Bretby  Stakes  Course  the  last  six  furlongs,  and  the  Rous 
Course  the  last  five  furlongs,  all  of  these  finishing  at 
the  Rowley  Mile  Stand.  The  Cambridgeshire  Course  is  a 
furlong  short  of  Across  the  Flat,  being  exactly  2,000  yards 
in  length.  Coming  from  the  Ditch  towards  the  stands, 
the  first  winning-post,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  stands, 


54  THE   ENGLISH    TURF 

is  the  T.Y.C.  post,  the  course  for  which  is  5  furlongs  140 
yards.  Older  horses  run  on  this  course  as  well  as  two- 
year-olds,  and  it  is  generally  considered  an  easy  course. 
About  this  I  am  not  at  all  sure,  for  it  is  very  level  going, 
with  no  give  and  take,  as  there  is  on  the  Rous  Course.  A 
furlong  nearer  the  stands  is  another  judge's  box,  at  the 
end  of  what  is  called  the  Ditch  Mile,  and  this  is  placed 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  Bushes,  and  just  before  the 
descent  to  the  Abingdon  Mile  Bottom  is  commenced.  The 
Ditch  Mile  is  considered  easier  than  the  Rowley  Mile,  and 
certainly  there  is  no  hill  to  finish  up ;  but,  as  with  the 
T.Y.C.,  it  is  all  on  the  flat,  and  I  have  seen  horses  fail  to 
stay  this  course  that  could  win  on  the  Rowley  Mile.  But 
it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  some  horses  are  suited  by 
one  and  some  by  the  other.  The  third  judge's  box  on  the 
Flat  is  at  the  foot  of  the  Bushes  Hill,  at  the  end  of  the 
Abingdon  Mile,  and  various  portions  of  this  mile  are  used, 
one  or  two  races  finishing  there  in  every  week  of  racing. 
This  finish  is  on  a  sharp  descent,  and  is  a  rare  place  for 
non  -  stayers,  provided  their  forelegs  will  enable  them  to 
travel  at  top  speed  down  the  hill.  The  various  portions 
of  the  Rowley  Mile  are  more  often  used  than  the  similar 
portions  of  the  Ditch  and  Abingdon  Miles ;  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  all  the  races  run  on  the  Rowley  Mile, 
or  portions  of  it,  or  Across  the  Flat,  finish  right  opposite 
the  stands ;  while  to  see  a  finish  on  any  portion  of  the 
Abingdon  or  Ditch  Miles,  or  at  the  T.Y.C.,  one  has  to 
leave  the  stand,  and  walk,  ride,  or  drive  from  a  furlong  to 
half  a  mile  from  the  paddock.  Comparatively  few  people 
leave  the  stands  when  a  race  is  being  run  which  finishes 
in  the  Dip  (Abingdon  Mile),  but  there  is  a  general 
stampede  when  the  winning-post  is  at  the  Bushes  or  T.Y.C., 
and  it  is  this  variety  which  gives  such  a  charm  to  racing 
at  Newmarket.  A  section  of  Newmarket  visitors  complain 
loudly  at  having  to  travel  down  the  course  generally  about 
twice  in  each  day,  and  some  newspapers  never  forget  to 
make  grievous  lamentation  on  the  same  score,  but  the 
malcontents  must  wilfully  blind  themselves  to  the  reason 
why  so  many  different  courses  are  used  at  Newmarket. 


NEWMARKET  55 

As  mentioned  elsewhere,  it  is  the  aim  of  the  Jockey  Club 
to  provide  every  description  of  course,  and  owners  and 
trainers  are  thankful  for  the  variety,  if  some  of  the  public 
are  not. 

On  the  "  big "  days  of  the  year,  the  Two  Thousand  day 
and  those  on  which  the  Caesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire 
are  decided,  all  the  races  finish  opposite  the  stands,  but 
this  is  on  account  of  the  increase  in  the  attendance,  and 
because  it  would  be  difficult  to  accommodate  them  else- 
where. Finishing  at  the  Portland  Stand,  or  "  the  top  of 
the  town,"  are  the  Ancaster  Mile,  which  is  the  last  mile 
of  the  Beacon  Course,  and  the  Criterion  Course,  which  is 
the  last  six  furlongs  —  from  the  Turn  of  the  Lands — of 
the  Ancaster  Mile.  The  Ditch  In  (two  miles)  also  finishes 
here,  and  the  now  never-used  Audley  End  Course  of  I  mile 
7  furlongs  and  56  yards ;  but  nowadays  we  never  see  any 
races  finish  at  the  Portland  Stand  which  are  not  run  on  the 
Ancaster  Mile  or  Criterion  Course,  except  the  race  for  the 
Old  Cambridgeshire,  the  starting-post  for  which  is  two 
furlongs  west  of  the  Ancaster  Mile  starting-post,  and  quite 
off  the  Beacon  Course.  This  fine  course,  on  which  the 
Cambridgeshire  was  run  for  the  first  thirty  years  or  more 
of  its  existence,  is  now  never  used,  except  for  the  one 
particular  race  mentioned,  which  is  decided  on  the  Friday 
of  the  Houghton  week,  and  this  is  in  my  opinion  a  matter 
for  regret.  It  is  true  that  the  Portland  Stand  affords  very 
little  accommodation,  and  only  a  moderate  view,  but  I 
should  dearly  like  to  see  a  new  and  larger  stand  take  its 
place,  and  the  last  two  races  of  each  day  decided  there. 

Seen  from  the  July  Stands  behind  the  Ditch  lies  the  Round 
Course,  which  personally  I  have  never  seen  used.  It  begins 
at  the  end  of  the  plantation,  rather  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  below  the  stands,  and  describes  a  circle  of  3  miles 
4  furlongs  and  138  yards,  the  last  mile  being  the  Bunbury 
Mile.  It  touches  the  Beacon  Course  on  its  easterly  side, 
but  leaves  it  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  running 
Gap,  and  wheeling  round  to  the  right,  runs  parallel  with  the 
Ditch  up  to  the  July  Stands.  Not  so  long  ago  I  rode  over 
this  line  and  lamented  that  so  fine  a  course  was  not  used. 


56  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

But  modern  racing  seems  to  have  no  use  for  such  courses, 
and,  except  the  Whip,  there  is  not  a  single  race  in  the 
Calendar  of  more  than  three  miles,  and  only  one  of  that 
distance,  viz.  the  Alexandra  Plate  at  Ascot.  It  has  lately 
been  mooted  by  Lord  Penrhyn  that  as  the  July  Course 
affords  the  best  going  to  be  found  anywhere  for  a  long 
race  at  midsummer — when  so  many  other  courses  are,  as 
a  general  rule,  burnt  up  and  hard — that  one  or  more  new 
long-distance  races  be  instituted  for  the  Newmarket  July 
Meetings.  The  suggestion  is,  I  understand,  being  con- 
sidered by  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club.  The  Ascot 
Gold  Cup  is  two  miles  and  a  half,  and  so  too  is  the  Good- 
wood Cup.  The  Metropolitan  Stakes,  the  Chester  Cup, 
the  Jockey  Club  Cup,  and  the  Caesarewitch  are  two  miles 
and  a  quarter,  and  at  present  these  are  the  only  races 
in  the  whole  season  where  the  course  is  beyond  two  miles. 
The  Bunbury  Mile  corresponds  to  the  Rowley  Mile 
Course  a  mile  away,  and  portions  of  it  are  the  favourite 
courses  behind  the  Ditch,  and  there  is  a  very  sharp  ascent 
to  the  winning-post  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The 
Suffolk  Stakes  Course  of  a  mile  and  a  half — the  last  mile 
and  a  half  of  the  Round  Course — is  the  longest  course 
now  used  behind  the  Ditch,  and  the  Ellesmere  Stakes 
Course,  of  a  furlong  less,  but  finishing  at  the  bottom  of 
the  hill,  is  much  more  popular  in  both  weeks.  There  is 
a  T.Y.C.  on  the  Bunbury  Mile  of  5  furlongs  142  yards,  and 
on  this  the  July  Stakes  is  run.  Six  furlongs,  with  the  same 
finish,  is  called  the  Exeter  Stakes  Course,  and  the  last  five 
furlongs  of  the  Bunbury  Mile — much  severer,  for  two-year- 
olds,  than  the  longer  T.Y.C. — are  used  for  the  Chesterfield 
Stakes  and  other  short  races.  Here  it  was  that  La  Fleche 
made  her  first  public  appearance,  and  I  recollect  as  well  as  if 
I  saw  it  now  how  she  came  bounding  up  the  hill  with  her  ears 
pricked,  and  won  without  effort  It  was  an  extraordinary 
promise  of  excellence  to  come,  and  that  promise  was  more 
than  fulfilled  in  the  three  following  seasons. 

A  feature  of  the  July  Course  is  the  beautiful  carpet  of 
grass  which  covers  it.  This  grass  does  not  seem  to  be 
so  coarse  as  that  which  is  found  beyond  the  Ditch,  and 


NEWMARKET  57 

is  full  of  short  herbs.  It  affords  quite  the  best  going 
I  know  of  on  any  racecourse,  and  even  in  times  of  drought, 
when  the  ground  is  naturally  hard,  there  is  enough  soft  cover 
here  to  prevent  concussion. 

The  two  July  Meetings,  if  they  do  not  always  provide  the 
best  sport,  are  in  some  ways  the  pleasantest  of  all  the 
Newmarket  fixtures.  They  are  held  at  a  time  when  in  nine 
years  out  of  ten  the  weather  is  warm  and  fine,  and  in  really 
fine  weather  there  is  no  pleasanter  spot  where  racing  men 
congregate  than  the  course  behind  the  Ditch.  If  the  sun 
is  very  powerful,  the  plantation,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more 
in  length,  offers  an  impenetrable  shade,  and  this  place  is 
much  used  by  the  trainers,  a  large  majority  of  the  runners 
being  walked  about  and  saddled  there  before  every  race. 
It  is  a  slight  drawback  that  the  course  is  over  two  miles 
from  the  centre  of  the  town,  but  the  road  between  is 
generally  well  watered,  and  the  cab  fare  is  not  a  heavy 
item,  unless  one  engages  a  vehicle  for  the  day.  Then  the 
scenic  properties  of  the  July  Course  are  not  to  be  despised, 
and  at  no  course  in  the  kingdom  is  there  so  little  crowding 
or  bustle.  At  the  Rowley  Mile  Stand  the  paddock — Bird- 
cage it  is  usually  called — is  on  the  same  side  as  the  stands, 
the  Jockey  Club  enclosure  opening  into  it,  while  there  is 
a  tunnel  from  the  chief  ring ;  but  on  the  July  Course  the 
paddock  and  the  largest  enclosure,  for  members  of  the 
Newmarket  Stand,  are  on  the  far  side,  the  public  rings 
being  immediately  behind  the  Ditch.  Two  or  three  gates 
are  opened,  and  in  a  dry  week  there  is  little  sign  of  the 
foot  traffic  even  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  meeting.  No  one 
seems  to  be  in  the  slightest  hurry  in  the  July  week,  and 
a  new  face  is  a  rarity,  but  it  is  the  beau  ideal  of  a  race 
meeting ;  and  with  sales  of  thoroughbred  stock  both  before 
and  after  the  racing,  those  with  a  fondness  for  horses  are 
provided  almost  with  a  surfeit. 

The  fault  of  Newmarket  is  that  there  is  far  too  much 
sprint  racing,  and  that  very  little  encouragement  is  offered 
to  stayers.  As  I  have  said  already,  the  longest  races  decided 
there  (always  excepting  the  Whip)  are  the  Caesarewitch  and 
the  Jockey  Club  Cup.  Beyond  the  first -named  there  is 


58  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

no  handicap  of  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  during 
the  course  of  the  year  there  are  few  of  any  sort  beyond  that 
distance.  Taking  1900  as  a  guide,  I  find  that  194  races 
were  decided  at  the  eight  meetings,  and  that  these  were 
divided  as  follows  : — 

5  furlongs  and  over,  but  less  than  6  furlongs     76 

6  furlongs     .  .  .         K  ;r>      .     31 

7  .  >  »JM  '»--i      II 
I  mile            .                 .  .          x ;>;•!;.•  •-  ^    29 
i  mile  and  i  furlong    .  .  -:vf;>   •**     2 
i  mile  and  2  furlongs  .            .'.  •  ••  *       9 
i         „         3       „  <:....    2 
i                   4       ,,  j*    27 

1  „         6       „  2 

2  miles          .  .  .          i*;  1      .'      2 
2  miles  and  2  furlongs  .  .     ?*;>.„       2 
4  miles          .                 .                 .  -i<<.       i 

194 

From  the  above  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  sprint  races 
still  are  the  most  popular  with  those  whose  duty  it  is  to 
issue  the  programmes  of  the  Newmarket  Meetings,  but  I 
am  strongly  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  for  the  good  of 
the  turf  were  a  wholesale  curtailment  made  of  these  short 
races.  Before  the  new  rules  came  in  Newmarket  set  a  very 
bad  example  to  the  racing  world,  and  in  fact  encouraged 
sprint  racing  more  than  any  other  turf  executive.  Only 
three  years  ago,  in  1897,  the  races  under  6  furlongs  were 
91  out  of  207,  and  there  was  only  one  race  of  a  mile  and  a 
half  against  27  in  the  past  year.  Five  furlongs  is  no  sort 
of  a  course,  except  as  a  test  of  speed,  and  I  would  like  to 
see  five-furlong  racing  discontinued  altogether,  except  for 
two-year-olds.  From  a  sporting  point  of  view  a  five-furlong 
race  amongst  old  horses  is  but  a  sorry  sight.  A  good  start 
and  a  quick  beginning  mean  so  much.  Then  if  the  field  is 
a  large  one  and  the  best  horse  at  the  weights  does  not  get 
off  well,  he  is  very  often  shut  in,  and  beaten  because  he 
cannot  extricate  himself  in  time.  Five-furlong  races  too  are 
productive  of  longer  delays  at  the  post,  and  more  bad  starts 


NEWMARKET  59 

than  any  other  description  of  race,  and  with  many  horses 
a  continuous  subjection  to  these  delays  means  total  ruination 
of  the  temper.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  rogues  and 
"welshers"  are  very  common  at  the  present  time,  and  five- 
furlong  racing  is  in  a  very  great  measure  responsible  for 
these  vices.  Of  course  there  are  horses  who  can  race  and 
will  not,  whose  tempers,  from  foalhood  onwards,  are  naturally 
bad  ;  but  the  horse  who  deliberately  "  cuts  it "  just  when 
he  appears  to  be  winning  in  a  canter  is,  in  nine  cases  out 
of  ten,  the  victim  of  too  much  sprint  racing.  He  has  been 
jumped  ofT,  and  pulled  back  after  going  a  hundred  yards 
or  so,  times  without  number.  At  first  he  does  not  know 
what  is  intended  of  him,  but  after  a  while  he  resents  the 
whole  thing,  and  as  soon  as  he  finds  that  he  has  to  struggle 
hard  to  beat  his  opponents  he  tries  to  stop,  preferring  the 
hiding  his  jockey  may  possibly  give  him  to  running  his 
race  out.  With  the  starting-gate  coming  into  universal  use 
most  of  the  trouble  at  the  start  will  have  disappeared. 

Another  great  disadvantage  of  five-furlong  racing  is  that 
it  tends  to  make  bad  jockeys.  Boys  who  are  just  beginning 
to  make  their  mark  should  not  be  asked  to  bring  their 
horses  through  from  end  to  end  ;  but  this  is  what  is  required 
of  them  in  five-furlong  races,  and  it  causes  them  to  adopt 
a  thoroughly  bad  style,  which  only  the  very  best  survive. 
To  learn  a  knowledge  of  pace,  or  how  to  wait,  is  almost 
impossible  for  a  boy  when  riding  in  a  five-furlong  race.  An 
older  and  really  skilful  jockey  may  do  it,  but  a  boy  cannot. 
He  is  all  hurry  and  bustle,  and  far  too  anxious  to  get  home 
in  these  short  cuts,  and  unless  he  gets  a  lot  of  riding  in 
longer  races  he  stands  very  little  chance  of  making  his  way. 
That  five-furlong  racing  does  not  suit  a  majority  of  the 
horses  who  take  part  in  it  I  am  quite  sure.  That  it  was 
not  altogether  acceptable  to  the  public  before  the  advent 
of  the  starting-gate,  on  account  of  the  long  delays  at  the 
post,  is  pretty  certain,  and  that  it  is  not  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  improvement  of  the  breed  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  breeders,  as  a  general  rule,  fight  shy  of 
patronising  stallions  who  have  retired  from  the  turf  with 
the  reputation  of  being  speedy  sprinters  and  nothing  more. 


60  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Let  anyone  who  doubts  this  read  the  list  of  sires  adver- 
tised in  the  Calendar,  and  note  which  stand  at  high  fees, 
which  at  low  ones ;  which  are  "  full,"  and  to  those  which 
"a  few  nominations  are  vacant."  Those  with  the  five  last- 
mentioned  words  attached  are  nearly  always  either  horses 
whose  performances  hardly  justified  their  being  advertised 
at  all,  or  horses  who,  even  if  they  were  good  winners  in 
the  past,  scored  all  their  triumphs  on  short  courses.  No 
breeder  deliberately  sets  to  work  to  breed  a  five-furlong 
horse.  The  animal  he  breeds  may  be  nothing  more,  either 
from  natural  causes  or  because  it  has  fallen  into  hands 
which  give  it  no  other  chance ;  but  the  fact  remains  that 
when  its  sire  and  dam  were  mated,  the  possessor  of  the 
latter  was  doing  his  best  to  breed  a  Derby  winner.  This 
is  the  most  serious  indictment  I  can  make  against  five- 
furlong  racing,  viz.  that  the  horses  which  pass  their  racing 
lives  in  competing  for  this  class  of  event  are  scorned  by 
the  best  breeders  when  their  running  days  are  over.  That 
they  are  used  for  stud  purposes  at  all  is  a  pity,  but  un- 
fortunately many  breeders — enthusiasts  in  the  science  too — 
are  poor  men,  who  must  buy  their  brood  mares  cheaply,  and 
who  cannot  afford  the  high  fees  charged  for  the  best  sires. 

Another  strong  argument  against  five-furlong  racing  is 
that  it  allows  of  roarers  winning  races.  That  many  really 
good  horses  are  roarers  I  am  fully  aware,  and  that  many 
of  them  can  win  in  good  company  at  a  mile,  and  even 
over  a  longer  course,  I  know  very  well ;  but  one  swallow 
does  not  make  a  summer,  and  because  there  are  one  or  two 
good  roarers  every  season,  it  does  not  follow  that  roaring 
is  not  harmful  to  the  breed.  Why  five  -  furlong  racing 
encourages  roarers  is  easily  explained  by  enunciating  the 
fact  that  nine  roarers  out  of  ten  cannot  go  an  inch  further 
at  top  speed.  Some  of  course  cannot  travel  so  far  under 
pressure,  but  were  there  no  five-furlong  races  to  be  won, 
probably  two-thirds  of  the  existing  roarers  would  be  turned 
out  of  training  as  soon  as  their  roaring  proclivities  were 
found  out.  As  it  is  they  are  kept  in  the  string  because 
they  can  go  for  five  furlongs,  and  the  fillies,  if  they  happen 
to  be  well-bred  and  good-looking,  are  sent  to  the  stud  in 


NEWMARKET  61 

due  course  to  breed  more  roarers.  On  the  Continent 
breeders  are  far  more  particular  about  roaring  than  we  are 
in  England,  and  the  many  buyers  we  have  from  France, 
Germany,  Austria,  Hungary  and  Russia  would  sooner  go 
back  without  a  horse  at  all  than  take  one  from  England 
that  was  unsound  in  his  wind.  In  the  South  American 
States  they  are  not  so  particular. 

Recently  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club  have  made 
some  attempts  to  set  their  house  in  order,  and  while  Lord 
Durham  was  in  office  certain  new  rules  were  agreed  upon, 
despite  considerable  opposition.  Briefly,  these  provided  for 
an  increased  number  of  longer  races,  for  a  decrease  in  the 
number  of  five-furlong  events  open  to  old  horses,  and  for 
a  curtailment  of  the  value  of  early  two-year-old  prizes.  It 
was  finally  decided  that  on  each  day's  programme  there 
should  be  two  races  of  a  mile  and  upwards  of  the  minimum 
aggregate  distance  of  two  miles  and  a  half,  and  that  no 
more  than  .£200  should  be  added  to  any  two-year-old  race 
before  the  ist  of  June.  This  is  all  very  well  as  far  as  it 
goes,  but  in  my  opinion  it  hardly  goes  far  enough,  and 
especially  do  I  think  that  three-year-olds  and  upwards 
should  never  run  less  than  six  furlongs. 

With  perhaps  the  exception  of  the  Fern  Hill  Stakes  at 
Ascot,  we  could  do  without  all  the  five-furlong  races  that  are 
now  run,  saving  those  which  are  for  two-year-olds  only,  but 
I  imagine  that  the  reform  has  begun  to  a  large  extent  at  the 
other  end,  and  that  more  long  races  will  be  gradually  in- 
sisted upon.  Newmarket  possesses  the  grandest  course 
in  the  world  for  long-distance  racing,  and  to  Newmarket  we 
look  to  set  the  example  by  giving  some  of  its  best  prizes 
for  races  of  two  miles  and  upwards.  I  think  there  should 
be  a  two-mile  handicap  at  each  of  the  eight  meetings  held 
on  the  heath,  and  I  say  handicap  advisedly,  because  weight- 
for-age  races  seldom  bring  out  a  good  field.  Even  with 
penalties  and  allowances,  such  races,  when  the  time  for 
running  them  arrives,  are  often  at  the  mercy  of  one  horse, 
or  of  one  of  two  or  three  horses,  and  the  unwelcome  "  walk 
over"  too  often  takes  place.  Count  Schomberg,  to  quote 
a  notable  instance,  was  allowed  to  "walk  over"  for  the 


62  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

Goodwood  and  Jockey  Club  Cups ;  and  though  I  have  no 
wish  to  hear  of  those  races  being  done  away  with,  I  am 
nevertheless  of  opinion  that,  except  in  a  few  particular 
cases,  long  handicaps  of  good  value  afford  better  sport  than 
weight-for-age  events  over  a  two-mile  course.  I  would  also 
increase  the  distance  of  some  of  the  selling  races,  and  let 
the  platers  run  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  two  miles,  instead 
of  five  and  six  furlongs,  and  I  should  be  much  inclined  to 
increase  the  distance  of  such  valuable  prizes  as  the  Eclipse 
Stakes  and  the  two  ten -thousand -pounders  which  are 
decided  at  Newmarket  in  July  and  September. 


CHAPTER   III 
ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD 

Ascot  the  most  important  meeting  of  the  year — Star  performers — The  course — 
The  best  and  worst  of  it — State  of  going — Suggestions  for  improving  the  run-in 
— Analysis  of  programme — The  gradients — The  Cup  Course — Old  and  new 
miles— The  stands  badly  placed— Value  of  the  stakes — The  Goodwood  Course 
— Comparison  with  Newmarket — Straight  miles — None  at  Goodwood—  Date 
of  fixture — Low  charges — Two-year-old  racing — Panorama  from  stands  and 
paddock — Birdless  Grove — Distance  from  London — Chichester — Neighbour- 
ing villages — Places  available  for  visitors  to  meeting — Drive  from  London — 
Cabs  and  vans — Road  from  Chichester — Chain-horses— Queen's  Plate  Course 
— Cup  Course — Other  courses  used — Goodwood  programme — Value  of  stakes 
— Analysis  of  programme — Stabling  dear — Two  trainers'  bills  for  meeting — 
Goodwood  Cup— Winners  thereof. 

ASCOT 

ASCOT  is  by  far  the  most  important  race  meeting  of  the 
/~V  year.  Every  race  on  its  four-day  programme  is  of 
importance,  and  its  Gold  Cup  is  almost  invariably  won  by 
the  very  best  horse  in  training.  To  compare  Royal  Ascot 
with  other  meetings  to  its  detriment  is  not  possible.  The 
going  is  nothing  like  so  good  as  that  of  Newmarket,  and 
it  is  an  expensive  meeting  to  those  of  its  visitors  who  take 
up  their  quarters  in  the  neighbourhood  for  the  week  ;  the 
journey  from  town  on  any  of  the  race  days  is  an  un- 
comfortable business ;  the  accommodation  for  horses  is  very 
dear,  not  very  plentiful,  and  nothing  like  so  good  as  that  to 
be  found  at  the  Park  fixtures ;  yet,  in  spite  of  all  drawbacks, 
Ascot,  both  from  a  social  and  sporting  point  of  view,  is  the 
king  of  race  meetings. 

In  regard  to  its  position  with  most  meetings,  we  can 
liken  it  to  the  London  theatre  and  the  country  theatre.  At 
the  first-named,  or  rather  at  some  of  the  first-named,  one 

63 


64  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

sees  a  whole  company  of  stars.  The  cast  is  made  up  with 
a  big  star  for  the  best  parts,  a  slightly  lesser  star  in  the 
second-best  part,  and  minor  stars  are  amidst  the  rank  and 
file  of  performers.  Not  a  name  is  on  the  programme  that 
is  not  known,  and  known  well.  Very  often,  however,  when 
the  star  goes  on  tour  he  does  not  take  other  stars  with  him, 
but  chooses  a  company  of  second  or  third-rate  artistes,  who 
tend  to  show  the  excellence  of  his  performance  in  an  even 
brighter  light  than  would  be  the  case  were  he  a  star  playing 
amongst  lesser  stars  in  town.  So,  at  many  race  meetings 
there  is  one  big  event  on  the  card,  and  a  lot  of  minor  items 
to  complete  the  bill  of  fare.  We  have  seen  a  ten-thousand- 
pound  prize  given  a  setting  of  selling  plates  and  one-hundred- 
pound  handicaps,  but  at  Ascot  we  have  a  star  performance 
all  round,  and  the  least  valuable  of  the  twenty-eight  prizes 
is  seldom  won  by  a  bad  horse.  Not  that  it  is  in  every  case 
the  value  of  the  prize  which  attracts  a  good  horse  to  Ascot. 
It  is  true  certainly  that  some  of  the  prizes  offered  during 
the  week  are  of  great  value,  but  no  such  amount  as  ten 
thousand  pounds  has  ever  been  heard  of  on  the  Royal 
Heath,  something  under  four  thousand  pounds  being  the 
greatest  amount  of  money  which  can  be  won  in  one  race. 

But  because  Ascot  is  a  bigger  and  better  meeting  than 
any  other  in  the  Calendar,  no  blame  attaches  to  those 
meetings  which  cannot  approach  it.  No  executive  can  offer 
big  prizes  without  a  big  revenue  behind  it,  and  at  many 
meetings,  especially  those  a  long  way  from  London,  a  large 
revenue  is  an  impossibility.  Though  a  really  valuable  stake 
will  always  attract  good  horses,  a  meeting  with  but  one  such 
stake  and  the  rest  third-rate  plating  does  not  take  such  high 
rank  as  one  where  there  is  uniform  good  value  and  no 
monster  prize. 

If  there  were  several  meetings  of  the  Ascot  stamp  the 
supply  of  good  horses  would  soon  be  exhausted,  and  the 
good  prizes  would  become  the  prey  of  third-rate  nags, 
because  there  would  be  nothing  better  to  run  for  them. 
The  platers,  too,  must  have  their  chance,  and  if  Ascot  does 
not  cater  for  them,  every  other  meeting  in  the  year  does, 
though  some  do  so  only  in  a  minor  degree.  About  nineteen 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  65 

horses  out  of  every  twenty  in  training  have  no  pretensions 
to  high  class,  but  the  nineteen  are  quite  ready  to  run  when 
the  chance  is  offered,  and  it  is  presented  everywhere  but 
at  Ascot.  Indeed,  some  meetings  lay  themselves  out  to 
catch  the  platers,  and  give  no  prizes  that  are  likely  to  attract 
good-class  horses,  yet  those  meetings  live,  and  earn  enough 
to  go  on  from  year  to  year.  There  are  meetings,  too,  at 
which  at  least  half  the  races  will  draw  a  fair  class,  and 
some — Goodwood  and  Doncaster  to  wit — where  even  a 
greater  proportion  of  the  events  is  contested  by  good 
horses.  Still,  there  are  selling  races  at  both  these  places, 
while  at  Ascot  no  such  event  is  permitted  on  the  pro- 
gramme. 

As  a  rule  Ascot  draws  all  the  best  horses  of  the  year, 
of  every  age.  All  sorts  and  conditions  are  provided  for, 
but  only  the  best  run  in  every  class.  The  Cup,  the  Vase, 
and  the  Alexandra  Plate  attract  the  best  stayers  of  the  day ; 
the  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes,  the  Ascot  Derby,  and  the  St. 
James'  Palace  Stakes  draw  many  of  the  best  three-year-olds. 
The  Coronation  Stakes  is  generally  contested  by  the 
winners  of  One  Thousand  and  Oaks,  and  the  Coventry 
and  New  Stakes  bring  out  the  best  youngsters  of  the  year, 
though  of  course  it  occasionally  happens  that  the  best  of 
this  age  are  not  seen  on  a  racecourse  until  the  Autumn 
Meetings  at  Newmarket.  The  Hardwicke  Stakes  and  the 
Rous  Memorial  Stakes  are  generally  won  by  about  the 
best  horses  at  a  mile  and  a  mile  and  a  half  in  training, 
and  such  events  as  the  Fernhill  Stakes  and  the  Queen's 
Stand  Plate  by  the  fastest  sprinters  of  the  day.  There 
are  very  few  handicaps  during  the  meeting,  but  the  Royal 
Hunt  Cup  has  been  won  by  some  great  horses,  and  is  always 
productive  of  the  highest  mile -handicap  form  of  the  day, 
while  the  Ascot  Stakes  must  fall  to  a  stayer,  even  if  his 
class  be  not  quite  so  good  in  comparison.  It  is  every 
owner's  ambition  to  win  a  race  at  Ascot,  where  all  the 
world  and  his  wife  are  looking  on,  and  this  ensures  good 
entries  for  all  the  events.  The  meeting  being  held  in  the 
second  week  in  June,  it  is  unfortunately  often  celebrated 
in  times  of  drought ;  and  when  fields  are  small  and  good 


66  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

horses  are  not  allowed  to  fulfil  their  engagements,  the 
state  of  the  going  is  always  responsible.  Provided  there 
have  been  plenty  of  showers  beforehand,  the  best  horses 
are  always  allowed  to  run,  and  except  through  the  accident 
of  its  being  very  lightly  weighted  in  one  of  the  four  or 
five  handicaps,  it  is  impossible  for  a  really  bad  horse  to 
win. 

The  course  is  in  many  ways  the  best  in  the  kingdom. 
As  already  remarked,  it  cannot  be  compared  with  New- 
market as  a  stretch  of  galloping  ground,  but  it  has  some 
advantages  even  over  headquarters,  and  the  chief  of  them  is 
that  almost  every  inch  of  the  racing — except  the  actual  starts 
on  the  new  mile — can  be  seen  from  the  stands.  But  the 
statement  that  the  course  is  in  many  ways  one  of  the  best 
in  the  kingdom  can  by  no  stretch  of  courtesy  be  made  to 
apply  to  the  going.  The  Ascot  Course  is  Crown  property, 
and  is  to  a  certain  extent  under  the  care  of  the  Master  of 
Her  Majesty's  Buckhounds.  The  heath  is  also  common 
land,  and  in  consequence  all  sorts  of  difficulties  have  arisen 
from  time  to  time,  with  the  result  that  it  has  been  no  easy 
matter  to  keep  the  turf  in  good  order.  Indeed,  I  have 
known  some  parts  of  it  to  be  very  bad,  with  an  uneven 
surface  and  a  scanty  crop  of  poor  grass,  and  some  years 
ago  I  actually  found  —  near  the  Brick-kilns — holes  deep 
enough  to  turn  a  horse  over,  if  he  happened  to  put  his 
foot  in  one  of  them.  Of  late  years,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
there  has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  this  respect,  and 
when,  not  long  since,  I  walked  the  full  circuit,  there  was 
no  room  for  complaint  except  that  the  ditch,  on  the  right- 
hand  side  below  the  hotel  turn,  was  not  railed  off  for  some- 
thing like  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  For  over  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  new  white  rails  have  been  placed,  but  there  is  a 
piece  to  which  the  rails  do  not  extend,  and  on  the  right, 
or  inside  of  this  piece,  there  is  an  awkward  ditch,  almost 
entirely  covered  with  gorse  and  other  growths.  This  ditch 
is  practically  hidden,  and  luckily  the  spot  where  the  rails 
are  absent  is  so  far  from  home  that  accidents  are  unlikely 
to  occur.  Still,  it  is  a  dangerous  place  for  a  bolter,  and 
just  as  bad  should  a  horse  be  bored  to  the  right  by 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  67 

one  of  his  opponents.  The  circuit  of  railing  should  most 
certainly  be  completed,  for  the  cost  would  be  a  mere 
nothing,  and  such  a  course  as  Ascot  should  be  railed  in 
all  round. 

After  an  inspection  I  made  in  the  year  1898  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  some  pains  must  have  been  taken  with 
the  going.  The  grass  had  been  evidently  well  manured  and 
top-dressed,  with  the  result  that  there  was  a  thick,  close 
covering  of  herbage,  altogether  different  from  the  state  of 
affairs  I  alluded  to  just  now.  It  struck  me,  however,  that 
the  soil  of  the  course  was  very  poor,  and  in  all  probability 
the  ground  requires  strong  dressing  every  year,  and 
constant  care  and  attention,  if  it  is  to  show  the  same 
appearance  that  it  did  at  the  meeting  of  1898.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  two  years  later  things  were  as  bad  still.  The 
result  of  my  inspection  went  to  suggest  that  it  is  possible 
to  provide  good  going  at  Ascot,  or  rather  to  provide  a 
course  with  an  even  surface  and  a  good  covering  of  grass. 
But  there  are  no  hydrants  on  the  ground,  as  at  the  racing 
enclosures,  therefore,  in  times  of  drought,  hard  going 
cannot  be  prevented.  Another  serious  drawback  is  that 
people  are  allowed  to  walk  where  they  like  between  the 
races,  and,  if  the  weather  is  dry,  the  run-in  of  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  becomes  so  worn  before  the  end  of  the 
week  that  it  presents  a  surface  more  like  glass  or  ice 
than  a  racecourse  of  turf,  and  when  this  condition  is 
reached  it  of  course  becomes  difficult  for  horses  to 
maintain  their  foothold.  In  1898  I  saw  a  filly  slip  up 
and  turn  end  over  end  on  her  way  to  the  post,  whilst  of  a 
beaten  favourite  I  overheard  a  jockey  remark  that  the 
animal  in  question  was  "  slipping  about  all  over  the  shop 
in  the  last  three  hundred  yards."  I  made  a  mental  note 
of  the  remark,  and  was  not  surprised  when  the  colt — a 
two  -  year  -  old  —  won  two  valuable  races  elsewhere  within 
the  next  four  weeks.  It  might  be  a  difficult  matter  to 
prevent  the  great  mass  of  people  coming  on  to  the  course, 
but  it  is  done  at  Doncaster,  York,  and  elsewhere,  and  in 
the  interests  of  sport  it  ought  to  be  done  at  Ascot. 

When    there    is   a    semi-state    procession    the    course    is 


68  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

cleared,  and  a  rope  held  across  to  keep  the  people  back. 
At  Doncaster  there  is  always  a  rope  just  beyond  the 
winning-post.  At  Ascot  the  foot  traffic  from  the  stands 
to  the  carriages  and  tents  on  the  other  side  of  the  course 
is  enormous,  but  I  think  it  might  in  a  great  measure  be 
avoided.  To  begin  with,  those  who  go  backwards  and 
forwards  from  the  Royal  enclosure,  the  owners'  and  trainers' 
stand,  and  from  the  paddock  are  well  beyond  the  winning- 
post.  All  that  need  be  required  of  them  is  that  they 
should  go  straight  across  instead  of  turning  down  the 
centre  of  the  course.  With  the  occupants  of  the  Grand 
Stand  it  would  be  more  difficult  to  arrange,  but  were 
the  rails  thrown  back — say  twenty  feet — on  the  far  side, 
the  space  thus  procured  could  be  given  to  making  a  twenty- 
foot  passage  in  front  of  the  stands  to  beyond  the  winning- 
post.  This  passage  could  be  equally  divided,  so  that  those 
going  and  those  returning  would  each  have  a  road  to 
themselves,  and  the  result  would  be  that  the  run-in  would 
be  saved  for  the  horses.  It  is  just  as  difficult  for  a  horse 
as  for  a  man  to  maintain  his  foothold  on  slippery  ground. 
Mark  how  the  wood  and  concrete  pavements  in  London, 
when  greasy  from  rain,  or  suffering  from  the  after-effects 
of  a  frost,  bring  horses  down  !  Yet  on  the  London  streets 
much  is  done  to  minimise  the  slipping  by  washing,  brushing 
with  revolving  wire  brushes,  and  sprinkling  with  gravel. 
At  Ascot,  on  the  other  hand,  the  course  being  left  to  the 
people  all  the  week  except  when  the  races  are  actually  in 
progress,  the  grass  become  so  worn  by  constant  foot  traffic 
as  to  be  really  unfit  for  horses  to  gallop  upon  at  top  speed, 
and  even  if  few  actually  come  down  when  racing,  many 
of  them  flounder  at  a  critical  moment,  which  has  the  same 
effect  so  far  as  winning  the  race  is  concerned. 

Now  to  the  programme.  Not  only  is  it  the  best  as  regards 
the  grand  total  of  prize  money  given,  but  it  sets  an  example 
to  all  other  fixtures  because  of  catering  so  liberally  for 
stayers.  From  a  sporting  point  of  view  long-distance  racing 
is  the  great  feature  of  the  Ascot  Meeting,  and  this  can 
be  best  shown  by  tabulating  the  races.  Naturally  enough, 
the  programme  has  been  changed  from  time  to  time,  and 


<    = 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD 


69 


many  once  popular  races  have  long  since  disappeared,  but, 
even  now,  where  for  sixty  years  the  tendency  has  been  to 
shorten  races,  Ascot  stands  out  alone  in  the  way  of 
encouraging  stamina.  In  writing  of  Newmarket  I  showed 
what  proportion  of  the  two  hundred  and  odd  races  decided 
there  every  year  was  run  on  long  and  what  proportion  on 
short  courses,  and  with  Ascot  I  will  adopt  the  same  plan. 
Unfortunately  only  one  meeting  is  held  on  the  Royal 
Heath  during  the  racing  season,  and  for  some  years  past 
the  card  has  contained  seven  events  each  day,  it  having 
known  no  change  since  the  Coventry  Stakes  for  two-year- 
olds  was  established  in  1890.  Taking  the  races  in  order 
of  distance,  the  twenty-eight  are  thus  divided  : — 

The  Alexandra  Plate         .         .     3  miles. 

The  Gold  Cup      .  .         .     2$    „ 

The  Ascot  Stakes  .         .     2      „ 

The  Gold  Vase     .  .     2      „ 

The  Triennial  (four-year-olds)   .     2      ,, 

The  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes     . 

Ascot  Derby          .          ... 

Hardwicke  Stakes 

Visitors'  Handicap         :   .^'    ''. 

High  Weight  Plate         -.-  •  . 

Trial  Stakes          *•         =>- 

Biennial  (three-year-olds)       «?-•< 

Hunt  Cup         ;.  y  •<         .     ;<•»• 

Coronation  Stakes         f)  ,v .  i ,  ,*. 

New  Biennial  (three-year-olds)  . 

Rous  Memorial  Stakes 

St.  James'  Palace  Stakes  .     '",' 

Triennial  (three-year-olds)       l!' 

Wokingham  Stakes        L*  .''£' :l    -T 

Coventry  Stakes  (two-year-olds) 

Biennial  (two-year-olds)  .     5  „ 

Triennial  (two-year-olds)  .     5  „ 

New  Stakes  (two-year-olds)       .     5  „ 

Biennial  (two  &  three-year-olds)     5  „ 

All-aged  Stakes     .  .     5  „ 

Windsor    Castle    Stakes    (two- 
year-olds)          .  .     5 

Queen's  Stand  Plate  (all  ages)     5 

Fern  Hill  Stakes  .         .     5  furlongs. 


i  mile  and  5  furlongs, 
i    miles. 


New  Mile. 

Old  Mile. 

New  Mile. 

Old  Mile. 

Old  Mile. 

New  Mile. 

Old  Mile. 

New  Mile. 

6  furlongs. 

5  furlongs  and  136  yards. 

i36      » 

i>  *36      » 

»  i36      n 

i36      » 
i36      ii 

i36      ii 
i36      ii 


70  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

From  this  list  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  five  races 
of  two  miles  and  upwards,  five  of  distances  varying  from 
a  mile  and  a  quarter  to  a  mile  and  five  furlongs,  eight  of 
a  mile  or  thereabouts,  and  only  ten  of  six  furlongs  and 
under,  exactly  half  of  which  are  for  two-year-olds  only, 
and  the  least  valuable  race  is  generally  worth  £400.  This 
is  emphatically  a  model  programme,  and  comparison  with 
that  of  any  other  meeting  in  the  Calendar  would  be  to  the 
immense  advantage  of  Ascot. 

Always  excepting  "  the  Whip  " — which  produces  a  contest 
but  very  occasionally  —  the  Alexandra  Plate  is  now  the 
longest  race  of  the  year,  in  fact,  is  the  only  contest  in 
which  the  distance  exceeds  two  miles  and  a  half.  Un- 
fortunately, it  is  not  always  the  great  race  it  ought  to  be, 
for  in  a  considerable  measure  it  is  discounted  by  the  Gold 
Cup,  run  twenty-four  hours  earlier.  Moreover,  the  con- 
ditions are  such  that  maiden  four-year-olds  are  allowed 
10  Ibs.,  and  maidens  of  five  years  and  upwards  14  Ibs. 
Then  there  are  various  penalties  for  winners,  including 
one  of  10  Ibs.  for  winning  the  Gold  Cup,  thus  it  occasionally 
happens  that  this  race  is  won  by  a  horse  of  moderate  class. 
A  stayer  of  course  it  must  be ;  but  there  are  stayers  and 
stayers,  and  only  in  1898  I  saw  a  horse  that  had  been 
beaten  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  the  Ascot  Stakes  carry 
off  the  Goodwood  Plate  with  the  greatest  ease.  Occa- 
sionally it  happens  that  a  really  high-class  horse  wins  the 
Alexandra  Plate,  and  its  bead-roll  of  winners  includes  some 
famous  names,  but  of  late  years  few  Gold  Cup  winners  have 
attempted  the  double  event,  and  we  have  to  go  back  to 
1889  to  find  both  races  won  by  the  same  horse.  On  that 
occasion  Trayles  was  the  hero,  and  in  the  previous  year 
Timothy  scored  in  similar  fashion  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  note 
that  this  brace  of  stayers  were  trained  by  the  same  trainer, 
the  late  James  Jewitt.  St.  Gatien  completed  the  double 
in  1885,  and  Robert  the  Devil  in  1881,  as  did  Verneuil 
in  1878,  and  Doncaster  three  years  earlier.  Verneuil  also 
won  the  Gold  Vase  on  the  first  day  of  the  meeting,  and 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  present-day  owners  seem  to 
be  more  afraid  of  pulling  their  horses  out  again,  to  run 


o    * 

«  1 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  71 

a  second  time  at  a  meeting,  than  were  the  owners  of  a 
decade  or  two  ago.  No  doubt  there  is  often  very  hard 
ground  in  the  Ascot  week,  but  taking  one  year  with  another, 
it  is  no  harder  now  than  it  was  in  the  seventies,  and  most 
certainly  there  was  less  of  the  "  policy  of  funk  "  about  then 
than  there  is  now.  The  course  for  the  Alexandra  Plate 
commences  at  the  beginning  of  the  New  Mile  and  embraces 
a  complete  circuit  of  the  old  course  in  addition.  The 
old  course  is  circular  and  sixty-six  yards  short  of  two  miles, 
i.e.  from  the  winning-post  round  to  the  winning-post  again. 
To  make  the  two  miles  the  horses  are  started  sixty-six 
yards  below  the  judge's  box,  immediately  after  passing 
which  there  is  a  slight  descent  as  far  as  the  end  of  the 
paddock,  or  for  rather  more  than  a  furlong.  Beyond  the 
paddock  the  ground  rises  slightly  to  the  hotel  turn,  and 
then  for  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  there  is  a  gradual 
descent  to  where  the  Old  Mile  joins  the  circular  course 
seven  furlongs  from  home.  Along  the  bottom  (after  joining 
the  Old  Mile)  there  is  a  little  up  and  down,  near  what  is 
known  as  the  Brick-kilns,  but  the  last  five  furlongs  are 
all  on  the  rise,  which  is  steepest  from  the  junction  of  the 
New  Mile  (nearly  four  furlongs  from  home)  to  about  one 
furlong  from  the  winning-post. 

The  last  bit  of  all,  alongside  the  Royal  enclosure,  is  rather 
easier  than  the  three  furlongs  which  immediately  precede 
it,  and  on  the  whole,  in  spite  of  the  hill  finish,  I  do  not 
consider  the  two  miles  anything  like  so  severe  as  are, 
for  instance,  the  Two  Middle  Miles,  or  the  "Ditch  In" 
at  Newmarket.  The  turns  are  by  no  means  sharp,  and 
in  the  Cup,  or  two-mile  races,  it  is  very  seldom  that  any- 
thing runs  wide.  With  a  large  field  on  the  Old  Mile  the 
reverse  is  sometimes  the  case,  but  in  such  races  horses  have 
only  come  half  a  mile  when  they  reach  the  turn,  and 
naturally  many  of  them  are  pulling  hard.  The  Old  Mile 
starting-post  is  amongst  the  trees,  about  a  furlong  further 
from  the  stands  than  its  junction  with  the  round  course ; 
this  distance  is  a  few  yards  beyond  the  mile,  and  though 
the  course  is  not  so  hard  as  a  straight  mile  (on  account  of 
the  turn)  it  takes  a  fairly  genuine  stayer  to  "get"  it,  and 


72  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

is  a  very  fair  test  of  merit.  The  Swinley  Course  is  the 
last  mile  and  a  half  of  the  round  course,  and  is  therefore 
practically  half  a  mile  on  the  descent,  about  three  furlongs 
nearly  level,  and  the  last  five  furlongs  uphill.  The  only 
race  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter  (the  Ascot  High  Weight 
Stakes)  is  run  on  the  same  course,  starting  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  nearer  home.  The  New  Mile  is  straight,  and  the 
starting-post  is  hidden  from  the  stands  by  a  rise  in  the 
ground.  The  first  two  furlongs  are  on  the  ascent,  then 
comes  a  drop  of  about  two  furlongs  to  the  junction  with 
the  round  course,  and  the  last  half  mile  (more  or  less) 
is  the  last  half-mile  of  all  the  Ascot  courses.  The  New 
Mile  is  fifty-four  yards  short  of  a  mile,  and  the  three  miles 
of  the  Alexandra  Plate  lose  these  fifty-four  yards  plus  the 
sixty-six  yards  that  the  circuit  is  short  of  two  miles,  so  the 
entire  distance  is  a  hundred  and  twenty  yards  less  than 
three  miles.  The  Wokingham  Stakes  is  run  on  the  last 
six  furlongs  of  the  New  Mile,  the  T.Y.C.  is  the  last  5  fur- 
longs and  136  yards,  and  the  five-furlong  races  are  run  on 
the  last  five  furlongs  of  the  same. 

The  New  Mile  at  Ascot  is  not  altogether  a  success,  and  I 
think  it  would  have  been  for  the  great  benefit  of  the 
meeting  had  Lord  Ribblesdale's  proposal  been  entertained  a 
few  years  ago.  During  his  tenure  of  office  as  Master  of 
the  Buckhounds  it  occurred  to  Lord  Ribblesdale  that  it 
was  impossible  to  see  what  was  taking  place  at  the  starting- 
post  in  races  on  the  New  Mile,  and  also  that,  as  the  grand 
stands  are  parallel  to  the  course,  no  satisfactory  view  of 
races  run  on  that  course  can  be  obtained  by  more  than 
a  few  people.  He  therefore  designed  another  New  Straight 
Mile,  the  starting-post  for  which  would  have  been  further 
out  from  the  stands,  and  a  better  view  of  both  the  start  and 
the  racing  would  have  been  a  natural  consequence.  This 
proposal  met  with  the  full  approval  of  the  Stewards  of 
the  Jockey  Club,  but,  as  they  very  pertinently  observed, 
it  was  for  the  ruling  powers  of  the  Ascot  Meeting  to 
make  the  change,  not  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club, 
whose  only  duty  in  connection  with  Ascot  was  their  steward- 
ship. Unfortunately  Lord  Ribblesdale  went  out  of  office 


H      S 
O     5 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  73 

almost  immediately  afterwards,  and  since  that  event  nothing 
has  been  heard  of  the  project. 

The  stands  at  nearly  all  the  modern  enclosures  are 
placed  at  an  angle  to  the  course,  and  in  consequence  a 
far  better  view  of  the  racing  is  obtained  than  is  the  case 
at  the  older  meetings,  such  as  Epsom,  Ascot,  and  Good- 
wood, where  they  are  parallel  to  the  course,  and  where, 
when  horses  are  scattered  over  the  whole  width,  it  is  a 
much  more  difficult  matter  to  note  what  is  going  on 
than  when  the  stands  are  set  at  an  angle.  With  regard 
to  races  on  round  courses  the  case  is  somewhat  different, 
because  the  very  fact  of  there  being  a  turn  drives  all 
the  runners  to  the  inside,  so  that  they  may  not  lose 
ground,  and  in  ninety-nine  races  out  of  a  hundred  all  of 
them  finish  on  the  far  side,  which  must  of  necessity  be 
the  inside  of  the  turn.  Carry  the  mind  back  to  any  Derby 
or  Ascot  Cup  of  recent  years,  and  it  will  be  remembered 
that  the  finish  was  always  on  the  far  side,  both  at  Epsom 
and  Ascot.  Think  again  of  the  races  for  the  Hunt  Cups, 
and  winners  will  be  called  to  mind  that  have  finished  near 
the  stands,  in  the  middle,  or  on  the  far  side.  Perhaps  a 
better  example  still  of  what  a  turn  will  do  is  the  Caesare- 
witch,  or  any  other  race  at  Newmarket  which  begins 
beyond  the  Ditch  and  finishes  at  the  Rowley  Mile  Stand. 
In  nearly  every  race  run  on  such  courses  the  horses  all 
finish  right  on  the  rails  opposite  the  stand,  and  even  when 
passing  the  Bushes  they  are  massed  together  on,  say, 
that  third  part  of  the  course  which  is  furthest  away  from 
the  stands.  Exceptional  cases  there  are  now  and  then,  but 
it  is  generally  a  bad  swerve  which  lands  a  horse  under 
the  judge's  box  at  the  finish  of  a  race  with  a  turn  in  it, 
as  was  the  case  with  Rockdove  when  she  won  the  Caesare- 
witch  in  1895.  Yet  the  turn  at  the  running  Gap  at 
Newmarket  is  hardly  a  turn  at  all  compared  with  the 
turn  into  the  straight  at  Ascot,  or  with  Tattenham  Corner, 
but  it  as  certainly  drives  the  runners  towards  the  far  side 
of  the  course  from  the  stands,  that  being  the  shortest 
way  home.  At  Ascot,  in  races  run  on  the  New  Mile  and 
parts  of  it,  it  is  quite  as  common  for  the  winner  to  finish  on 


74  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

one  side  as  on  the  other.  Not  on  every  straight  course, 
however,  does  this  happen,  for  at  Epsom  by  far  the  larger 
proportion  of  winners  of  five-furlong  races  finish  on  the 
far  side  close  under  the  winning-post  opposite  the  judge. 
This,  however,  is  caused  by  the  ground  sloping  away  from 
the  stand  side,  consequently  hundreds  of  horses,  when 
running  on  this  particular  course,  are  sent  to  the  far  side, 
even  if  they  have  started  on  the  near  or  stand  side. 

I  will  now  take  a  glance  at  the  programme,  to  which 
as  much  added  money  is  given  as  the  state  of  the  funds 
will  allow.  There  is  no  dividend  to  be  earned  for  share- 
holders at  Ascot,  and  after  expenses  are  paid  by  far  the 
largest  portion  of  the  income  is  devoted  to  the  stakes. 
Indeed,  it  is  generally  understood  that  all  the  surplus  is 
applied  in  this  manner,  and  the  following  table  will  show 
exactly  what  was  added  to  the  different  races  in  1900: — 

Tuesday:  Trial  Stakes,  £500;  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes, 
£1,000;  Coventry  Stakes,  £1,000;  Ascot  Stakes,  £2,000; 
43rd  Biennial,  £500 ;  Gold  Vase,  £200,  and  a  vase  worth 
£200  ;  46th  Triennial,  £400 — total,  £5,600. 

Wednesday  :  Visitors'  Plate,  £300  ;  42nd  Biennial,  £500  ; 
Hunt  Cup,  £1,000  from  the  Trustees ;  Hunt  Cup,  £500 
from  the  Master  of  the  Buckhounds,  and  cup  value  £500 ; 
Fern  Hill  Stakes,  £300 ;  Coronation  Stakes,  £300 ;  48th 
Triennial,  £400 ;  Ascot  Derby,  £500 — total,  £4,300. 

Thursday  :  37th  Biennial,  £500  ;  St.  James'  Palace  Stakes, 
£300 ;  Gold  Cup,  £3,000,  and  cup  value  £1,000 ;  New  Stakes, 
£1,000;  Rous  Memorial  Stakes,  £1,000;  All -aged  Stakes, 
£300  ;  38th  Biennial,  £500 — total,  £7,600. 

Friday :  High  Weight  Stakes,  £300 ;  Windsor  Castle 
Stakes,  £300;  Queen's  Stand  Stakes,  £800;  Wokingham 
Stakes,  £500  ;  Hardwicke  Stakes,  £2,000  ;  Alexandra  Plate, 
£1,500;  47th  Triennial,  £400 — total,  £5,800. 

The  total  for  the  four  days,  therefore,  amounted  to 
£23,300. 

In  the  Gold  Cup  the  second  horse  received  £700,  and  the 
third  horse  £300,  out  of  the  added  money,  and  in  various 
other  races  there  were  considerable  amounts  for  second 
and  third. 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  75 

The  sums  above  stated  represent  what  was  given  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  meeting,  otherwise  by  the  Ascot  Race  Fund. 
The  actual  winners  of  races  received  the  following : — 

Tuesday :  Trial  Stakes,  £640 ;  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes, 
£2,100;  Coventry  Stakes,  £1,809 ;  Ascot  Stakes,*  £1,655; 
43rd  Biennial,  £1,232;  Gold  Vase,  £620;  46th  Triennial, 
£658— total,  £8,714- 

Wednesday  :  Visitors'  Plate,  £435  ;  42nd  Biennial, 
£1,196;  Royal  Hunt  Cup,  £2,490;  Fern  Hill  Stakes, 
£620 ;  Coronation  Stakes,  £2,750 ;  48th  Triennial,  £759 ; 
Ascot  Derby,  £1,750 — total,  £10,000. 

Thursday :  37th  Biennial,  £1,060 ;  St.  James'  Palace 
Stakes,  £2,000;  Gold  Cup,  £3,370;  New  Stakes,  £1,928; 
Rous  Memorial,  £970;  All -aged  Stakes,  £350;  38th 
Biennial,  £880— total,  £10,558. 

Friday :  High  Weight  Stakes,  £565  ;  Windsor  Castle 
Stakes,  £732;  Queen's  Stand  Stakes,  £930;  Wokingham 
Stakes,  £865  ;  Hardwicke  Stakes,  £2429 ;  Alexandra  Plate, 
£1,465  ;  47th  Triennial,  £770 — total,  £7,756  =  £37,028. 

From  the  above,  prizes  for  second  and  third  horses  and 
the  entrance  money  of  the  winners,  are  deducted,  and  yet 
the  totals  show  that  the  twenty-eight  races  decided  on  the 
four  days  averaged  about  £1,322  apiece  to  the  winners. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  Gold  Cup  was  the  most  valuable 
prize,  and  next  in  order  were  the  Coronation  Stakes,  the 
Hunt  Cup,  the  Hardwicke  Stakes,  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
Stakes,  and  the  St.  James'  Palace  Stakes,  each  of  which 
was  of  the  value  of  £2,000  and  upwards.  The  added  money 
at  Ascot  has  not  varied  much  in  recent  years,  and  what  differ- 
ence there  is  in  the  value  of  the  prizes  occurs,  as  a  general 
rule,  through  the  subscriptions.  In  1898  the  added  money 
was  the  same  as  in  1900,  yet  in  the  first-named  year  the 
winners  received  £3,673  less  than  in  1900,  the  difference 
being  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  entries  were  much  larger 
in  1900  than  two  years  previously. 

*  In  this  race  the  second  received  £500,  and  the  third  £200,  out  of  the 

stakes. 


76  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

GOODWOOD 

If  Newmarket  possesses  the  best,  Goodwood  certainly  has 
the  second  best  racecourse  in  the  country,  and  there  are 
many  good  judges  of  racing  who  even  prefer  the  famous 
tracks  laid  down  by  Lord  George  Bentinck  to  the  galloping 
grounds  of  the  classic  heath.  There  is  no  need  to  compare 
the  two  places,  and  if  I  am  individually  of  opinion  that 
Newmarket  cannot  be  beaten— neither  the  Flat  nor  the 
magnificent  course  behind  the  Ditch — I  may  still  say  that 
Goodwood  is  almost  as  good  as  headquarters,  and  probably 
in  nine  years  out  of  ten  it  affords  better  going  at  the  end 
of  July  than  Newmarket  would  give  at  the  same  period 
of  the  year.  The  Cup  Course  in  the  Duke  of  Richmond's 
park  stands  out  by  itself  as  the  model  of  what  a  Cup  Course 
should  be,  but  there  is  no  longer  straight  course  than  the 
six  furlongs  used  for  the  Stewards'  Cup.  It  is  probably 
well  known  that  nowadays  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club 
will  not  license  any  new  racecourse  which  has  not  a  straight 
mile  amongst  its  courses,  but  it  is  very  debatable  whether 
a  straight  mile  is  universally  popular,  and  certainly  there 
are  owners  and  trainers  who  prefer  a  mile  course  with  some 
kind  of  turn  in  it  to  one  that  is  absolutely  straight.  Races 
of  five  and  six  furlongs  ought  certainly  to  be  run  on  a 
straight  course,  for  a  bend  or  turn  necessitates  easing  up 
or  running  wide,  and  sprint  races  are — or  should  be — run 
from  end  to  end  at  top  speed.  In  mile  races,  however, 
the  horses  do  not  go  at  top  speed  all  the  way,  and  in  about 
nine  out  of  ten  of  such  races  the  winner  is  waited  with 
until  somewhere  about  the  distance-post.*  The  chief  ob- 
jection to  running  mile  races  on  circular  tracks  is  that  when 
the  field  is  large  there  is  often  a  deal  of  crowding  at  the 
turns,  so  that  horses  are  very  liable  to  be  shut  in ;  but 
with  similar  fields  on  a  straight  course  the  same  thing 
frequently  occurs.  Visitors  to  Newmarket  will  be  able  to 
call  to  mind  more  than  one  instance  of  a  horse  being  badly 
shut  in  with  only  four  or  five  runners.  The  being  shut  in 
is  largely  a  question  of  jockeyship,  though  partly  a  question 

*  A  "  distance  "  is  240  yards. 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  77 

of  manners  on  the  part  of  the  horse.  A  sharp  jockey  who 
has  all  his  wits  about  him,  and  who  is  able  to  note  what 
is  taking  place  in  a  race,  is  seldom  shut  in,  provided  his 
mount  is  a  smooth  and  generous  goer ;  but  if  he  is  riding 
a  bad-mannered,  hard-mouthed  horse,  that  horse  will  pull 
him  into  difficulties,  no  matter  whether  he  is  racing  on  a 
round  or  a  straight  course,  and  such  animals  will  often  be 
shut  in  at  a  critical  moment,  however  great  the  artist  who 
has  the  mount. 

Goodwood  gets  on  well  enough  without  a  straight  mile; 
but  all  its  courses  are  good  of  their  kind,  and  the  going 
of  the  very  best.  Lord  George  Bentinck  was  at  great  pains 
in  making  the  present  course  some  sixty  years  ago,  and 
he  left  no  stone  unturned  in  his  endeavours  to  procure  a 
suitable  track.  In  all  probability  the  turf  was  good  to  begin 
with,  but  a  perfect  system  of  top-dressing  was  carried  out 
over  a  period  of  years,  and,  good  as  the  turf  may  have  been 
in  its  pristine  condition,  it  was  improved  to  a  very  great 
extent.  The  grass  is  shorter,  closer,  and  of  finer  quality 
than  that  which  covers  Newmarket  Heath,  and  in  suitable 
weather  its  appearance  reminds  one  of  a  well-kept  lawn 
rather  than  a  range  of  open  downs,  at  a  high  altitude  above 
sea-level. 

That  Goodwood  has  been  a  fashionable  and  popular 
meeting  for  the  greater  part  of  the  present  century  I  need 
hardly  state,  and  even  in  these  days  of  great  opposition  it 
fairly  holds  its  own,  though,  as  is  only  natural,  its  former 
glories  have  in  some  measure  departed.  Not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  the  Newmarket  Meetings,  Epsom, 
Ascot,  Goodwood,  and  Doncaster  stood  out  by  themselves 
as  the  greatest  of  the  year,  and  between  Ascot  and  Good- 
wood there  were  no  more  important  fixtures  than  the  one 
meeting  then  held  at  Newmarket  in  July,  the  Stockbridge 
and  Bibury  Club  fixtures,  and  such  affairs  as  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne  and  Liverpool,  both  of  which  were  much  more 
local  than  they  now  are.  The  racing  world  has  not  stood 
still,  however,  in  the  last  five-and-twenty  years,  and  now, 
in  addition  to  the  meetings  just  named,  and  a  second 
July  Meeting  at  headquarters,  there  is  racing  at  Sandown, 


78  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Kempton,  Hurst  Park,  Gatwick,  and  Lingfield,  between 
Ascot  and  Goodwood,  and  such  races  as  the  Eclipse  Stakes 
and  Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  are  decided  at  some  of  these 
meetings.  Sandown  has  its  two  biggest  meetings  of  the 
year  in  June  and  July,  the  first  in  the  week  following  Ascot, 
and  the  second  generally  only  ten  days  before  Goodwood ; 
and  at  Liverpool  and  other  places  further  away  the  money 
value  of  the  stakes  has  been  much  increased.  It  therefore 
results  that  not  so  many  of  the  best -class  horses  are 
kept  for  Goodwood  as  was  formerly  the  case,  and,  all 
things  considered,  it  is  wonderful  that  the  meeting  main- 
tains its  place  so  well  as  it  does. 

But  one  would  like  to  see  Goodwood  right  at  the  top 
of  the  tree  again,  and  I  have  often  thought  that  the  revenue 
might  be  considerably  increased  without  causing  the  attend- 
ance to  be  any  less  than  it  now  is.  The  charge  for  admission 
to  the  lawn  (in  which  enclosure  the  Grand  Stand  is  situated) 
might  be  doubled  and  another  enclosure  added,  with  a 
cheap  entrance  fee — which  latter  would  probably  draw  off 
a  large  section  of  the  undesirable  visitors  who  have  been 
conspicuous  on  the  lawn.  It  is  the  fact  that  the  place 
obtained  a  very  unenviable  notoriety  on  the  ground  that 
bad  characters  were  allowed  admission  to  the  enclosure,  but 
the  ruling  powers  of  the  meeting  are  now  well  aware  of 
what  has  been  going  on,  and  a  better  permanent  state  of 
affairs  exists. 

In  many  ways  Goodwood  is  the  most  enjoyable  meeting 
of  the  year.  As  far  as  the  position  of  the  course  goes,  and 
the  views  discernible  therefrom,  it  is  absolutely  unrivalled, 
and  from  a  picnic  point  of  view  it  has  an  even  greater 
popularity  than  Ascot.  The  two-year-old  racing  is  generally 
about  the  most  attractive  of  the  year,  and  if  the  high 
standard  of  the  Berkshire  Meeting  is  not  maintained 
throughout,  the  tit-bits  of  the  Goodwood  programme  generally 
draw  upon  the  ranks  of  the  best  horses  in  training,  and 
somehow  or  other  the  place  is  celebrated  for  close  finishes. 

The  course  lies  high  on  the  hills,  nearly  six  miles  north- 
west of  Chichester,  and  about  700  feet  above  sea-level. 
Looking  to  the  north,  the  view  travels  over  miles  upon 


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ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  79 

miles  of  wooded  uplands.  Range  upon  range  of  hills  are 
discernible  on  a  clear  day,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  travel,  but 
the  villages  are  hidden  away  in  the  hollows,  and  from  the 
top  of  the  stand  it  is  almost  impossible  to  discern  a  human 
habitation  on  this  north  side.  At  the  back  of  the  stands, 
and  over  half  of  the  lawn,  venerable  beeches  spread  their 
shade,  and  immediately  behind  lies  the  famous  "  Birdless 
Grove,"  a  beech  plantation  where  the  feathered  songster  is 
unknown.  Why  the  birds  of  the  district  should  forsake 
this  particular  wood  is  a  mystery  which  I  have  never  been 
able  to  penetrate.  Plenty  of  them  are  to  be  seen  and  heard 
lower  down  the  park,  but  in  all  my  journeys  through  the 
Birdless  Grove  I  have  never  seen  a  bird  nor  heard  any  note 
beyond  that  of  a  carrion  crow,  and  he  was  in  full  flight  high 
above  the  beeches.  To  the  east  of  the  stands  the  paddock 
lies,  and  this  paddock  is  situated  right  on  the  crown  of 
the  hill,  so  that  views  are  obtainable  on  either  side.  The 
north  view  I  have  described.  To  the  south  a  vast  pano- 
rama of  open  country  lies,  with  the  English  Channel 
beyond,  and  the  hills  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  further  away. 
Of  the  two  this  is  really  the  prettier  peep,  and  it  is  seen 
to  advantage  on  the  early  part  of  the  return  journey  to 
Chichester. 

The  one  drawback  to  Goodwood  is  that  it  is  so  far  away 
from  London,  so  that  one  either  has  to  go  through  a  great  deal 
of  travelling  during  the  week,  or  incur  considerable  expense 
by  taking  up  quarters  for  the  meeting  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  course.  The  Brighton  Railway  Company  run  special 
trains  from  London  to  Chichester  on  each  day  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  the  railway  journey  occupies  about  two  hours  each 
way.  Then  the  drive  from  Chichester  to  the  Grand  Stand 
takes  more  than  an  hour,  being  nearly  all  uphill,  so  that 
should  one  elect  to  do  the  meeting  from  town  each  day, 
about  seven  hours  must  be  spent  in  travelling.  The  Brighton 
Company  issue  a  cheap  ticket,  available  for  a  fortnight,  be- 
tween London,  Chichester,  Brighton  and  Lewes,  and  with 
this  it  is  possible  to  do  the  four  days  at  Goodwood,  three 
at  Brighton,  and  two  at  Lewes,  for  a  very  reasonable  cost. 
Still,  the  nine  days  of  racing  involve  something  like  a 


80  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

thousand  miles  of  travelling,  and  though  the  specials  are 
pretty  well  filled  every  day,  they  cannot  be  correctly  termed 
popular  ones. 

Villages  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Goodwood 
are  few  and  far  between.  Those  actually  nearest  to  the 
course  are  Charlton  and  Singleton,  and  nearly  all  the 
accommodation  that  these  two  places  offer  is  taken  up  year 
after  year  by  the  horses  and  their  attendants,  and  by  the 
trainers  and  jockeys.  Chichester  possesses  one  good  hotel, 
the  "  Dolphin,"  but  lodgings  are  plentiful  in  the  race  week, 
and  some  are  good,  some  bad,  and  some  just  passable, 
while  all  are  dear.  As  a  rule  all  the  accommodation  avail- 
able near  the  course  is  secured  by  those  who  have  business 
at  the  meeting,  and  a  few  parties  still  take  houses,  at  all 
sorts  of  distances  from  two  to  ten  miles  away.  The  taking 
of  a  house  for  the  week  is  not  so  common  a  custom  as  it 
once  was.  Not  so  long  ago  parties  were  made  up  months 
beforehand,  but  a  high  rent  had  to  be  paid,  servants  and 
wine  taken  down,  and  usually  the  services  of  a  waggonette 
and  a  pair  of  horses  to  be  procured,  for  driving  to  and 
from  the  course.  Nowadays  the  most  popular  plan  is  to 
stay  at  Brighton  or  Southsea,  and  travel  to  Chichester  by 
rail  every  day.  Brighton  is  about  thirty  miles  away,  and 
Southsea  seventeen,  and  of  late  years  so  many  people  have 
resorted  to  the  last-named  place  (or  Portsmouth)  that  three 
or  four  specials  are  run  to  Chichester  on  each  racing  day. 
The  train  journey  occupies  about  half  an  hour,  and  with 
ordinary  luck  one  can  leave  Portsmouth  Town  at  10.50, 
and  reach  the  course  about  12.30.  The  return  journey  is 
not  so  comfortable,  because  the  passengers,  carried  in  three 
or  four  trains  during  the  morning,  all  wish  to  depart  at  the 
same  time.  The  result  is  that  there  is  much  crowding, 
and  it  is  odds  against  the  holder  of  a  first-class  ticket 
returning  in  the  class  for  which  he  has  paid.  Only  return 
tickets  are  issued,  and  the  fare  is  raised  about  50  per  cent, 
above  the  ordinary.  This,  however,  is  what  racing  men  are 
accustomed  to  in  the  South  of  England. 

Bognor,  Littlehampton,  and  Worthing  all  have  racing 
visitors  in  the  Goodwood  week,  but  from  Bognor  to  the 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  81 

course  the  drive  is  a  long  one,  and  when  the  Brighton 
trains  stop  at  Worthing  it  is  often  difficult  to  find  a  seat. 
Arundel,  Midhurst,  and  Petworth  are  within  driving  distance 
of  Goodwood,  but  the  roads  are  hilly,  and  should  one  decide 
to  stay  at  any  one  of  the  places  named,  it  would  be  as  well 
to  have  arrangements  for  a  carriage  completed  beforehand. 
Some  years  ago  the  writer  drove  down  from  town,  stayed 
in  Chichester  for  the  meeting,  and  drove  back  again  on  the 
Saturday  and  Sunday.  This  plan  can  be  recommended  for 
anyone  fond  of  driving,  for  the  route  lies  through  some  of 
the  prettiest  scenery  in  the  Southern  Counties,  and  the  roads, 
though  hilly,  are  very  good.  On  the  occasion  referred  to 
the  old  Portsmouth  road,  through  Esher,  Ripley,  and  Guild- 
ford,  was  taken  as  far  as  Godalming.  Then  a  divergence 
to  the  east  was  made,  and  the  journey  broken  at  Haslemere, 
where  the  night  was  spent.  The  second  day's  drive  was 
through  woodland  scenes  of  great  beauty  to  Midhurst, 
and  from  thence  through  Singleton  and  West  Dean  to 
Chichester.  On  the  return  journey  the  road  to  Petersfield, 
by  way  of  Up  Park — where  there  used  to  be  racing  a 
hundred  years  ago — was  chosen  and  Liphook  made  the 
stopping-place  for  the  night.  From  Liphook  over  Hind 
Head,  and  by  the  Devil's  Punch  Bowl  the  views  are  mag- 
nificent, and  one  can  either  travel  to  London  by  Farnham, 
Bagshot,  and  Virginia  Water,  or  join  the  Guildford  road 
near  Godalming.  A  third  route  is  by  Dorking,  Horsham, 
and  Arundel,  and  this  also  is  a  good  road,  and  less  hilly 
than  the  others,  but  not  quite  so  well  off  for  scenery. 

If  it  can  be  managed  comfortably,  undoubtedly  Goodwood 
is  best  done  from  a  cottage  near  the  course,  from  which 
one  can  see  the  morning  gallops,  and  enjoy  the  beautiful 
scenery  before  and  after  racing.  Such  cottages  are  not 
very  numerous,  but  some  on  the  Goodwood  estate  are 
available,  and  the  prices  demanded  are  nothing  like  so 
ruinous  as  would  be  asked  for  similar  accommodation  at 
Ascot.  Living  in  one  of  those  one  can  avoid  the  long  and 
dusty  drives  to  and  from  Chichester,  and  be  independent 
of  trains  and  waits ;  but  if  the  cottage  be  more  than  a 
couple  of  miles  from  the  course  it  is  as  well  to  take  a  pony 
G 


82  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

down,  and  then  an  attendance  on  the  morning  work  becomes 
a  pleasure  rather  than  a  toil.  Not  that  four  miles  before 
breakfast  is  anything  out  of  the  way  for  a  healthy  man, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  from  every  cottage  within 
two  miles  of  the  course  it  is  uphill  all  the  way,  and  that 
the  weather  is  generally  warm.  Goodwood  is  no  place  for 
bicycles. 

The  greatest  nuisance  visitors  who  come  by  train — no 
matter  whether  from  London,  Brighton,  or  Portsmouth — 
have  to  contend  with  is  the  drive  from  Chichester,  and 
back  from  the  course.  The  yard  outside  Chichester  Station 
is  not  a  large  one,  but  on  the  race  days  it  is  blocked  with 
traffic,  and  directly  the  station  is  left  the  visitor  finds  himself 
one  of  a  surging,  struggling  crowd,  largely  composed  of 
touts  for  the  long  array  of  vehicles  which  are  waiting  for 
passengers.  Not  so  long  ago  open  cabs  and  hansoms  were 
numerically  the  strongest,  and  most  of  the  hansoms  had 
come  from  London,  some  engaged  beforehand  and  some 
on  speculation  only.  A  good  cab  could  often  secure  a  job 
at  seven  or  eight  guineas  for  the  meeting ;  but  London  cab- 
drivers  are  nothing  like  so  numerous  at  Goodwood  as  they 
used  to  be,  the  reason  being  that  the  open  van  with 
"  garden "  seats  has  to  a  great  extent  monopolised  the 
traffic.  Slower  than  most  of  the  vehicles  are  these  lumber- 
ing concerns,  but  they  are  on  the  whole  the  safest  of  the 
Goodwood  conveyances,  hence  their  popularity.  Half  a 
crown  or  three  shillings  a  seat  is  the  usual  charge,  but 
on  the  Cup  day  four  or  five  shillings  is  demanded,  and 
generally  paid,  there  being  always  a  much  augmented  crowd 
on  the  Thursday  of  the  meeting.  The  road  for  about  three 
and  a  half  miles  is  fairly  level,  but  whether  the  route  is 
taken  past  Goodwood  House,  and  through  the  park,  or  by 
the  Kennels,  up  Trundle  Hill,  the  last  two  miles  are  terribly 
steep,  and  have  to  be  done  at  a  walk.  Moreover,  the  surface 
of  the  roads  up  either  ascent  becomes  very  bad  before  the 
week  is  over,  the  loose  stones  all  working  out,  where  in 
a  general  way  there  must  be  very  little  traffic  of  any  sort. 
The  heavier  vehicles  are  not  allowed  to  go  through  the  park, 
and  this  is  a  wise  regulation,  as  the  outside  road  is  much 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  83 

the  better,  being  both  wider  and  firmer  than  the  other.  At 
the  foot  of  either  hill  chain-horses  are  requisitioned  by  a 
majority  of  the  drivers,  and  all  sorts  of  prices  are  paid,  the 
tariff  ranging  from  eighteenpence  for  a  bigger  sort  of  pony 
to  five  shillings  for  a  powerful  cart-horse.  At  one  time  the 
supplying  of  these  chain-horses  seemed  to  be  a  prerogative 
of  the  gipsies,  but  of  late  years  the  farmers  must  have 
been  securing  a  share  of  the  harvest,  as  many  good-looking 
cart-horses  are  now  to  be  seen  in  charge  of  smock-frocked 
farm  servants.  Some  of  the  most  active  of  the  men  can 
earn  five-and-twenty  to  thirty  shillings  on  the  Cup  day  with 
one  horse,  and  though  any  of  them  will  tell  you  that  the 
game  is  not  so  good  as  it  was,  I  can  see  no  diminution 
in  the  long  strings  of  vehicles,  and  most  certainly  the  prices 
are  higher  than  they  used  to  be  when  I  paid  my  first  visit  to 
Goodwood — the  year  when  Paganini  won  the  Stakes. 

The  Goodwood  Grand  Stand  is  of  the  old-fashioned  sort, 
being  a  large  oblong  house  of  considerable  height,  with 
balconies  in  front,  and  a  roof  from  which  a  capital  view 
of  the  racing  can  be  obtained.  It  is  unfortunately  placed 
parallel  with  the  course,  and  this  makes  it  difficult  for 
everyone  to  see  the  horses  when  they  are  running  in  the 
straight,  but  a  splendid  view  is  obtained  from  the  grass 
slope  which  lies  between  the  lawn  and  one  end  of  the  stand, 
and  this  is  a  favourite  coign  of  vantage,  especially  for  races 
on  the  T.Y.C. 

The  longest  course  marked  out,  though  it  has  not  been 
used  for  many  years,  is  the  Queen's  Plate  Course  of  over  three 
miles  and  a  half,  the  starting-post  being  on  Charlton  Downs, 
about  a  mile  to  the  north-west  of  the  stands,  and  quite  close 
to  the  village  of  Charlton.  From  Charlton  Downs  the 
horses  used  to  come  inwards  to  the  stands,  and  then  run 
the  present  Cup  Course.  The  starting-post  of  the  last- 
named  is  just  outside  the  paddock  gate,  and  for  the  first 
half-mile  the  horses  go  down  the  course,  past  the  stands 
and  lawn.  They  then  turn  out  to  the  west  and  go  round 
the  loop — the  "  Clump,"  it  used  to  be  called — coming  back 
into  the  straight  course  more  than  five  furlongs  from  home. 
Every  inch  of  the  races  run  on  this  course  can  be  seen  from 


84  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

the  top  of  the  stands,  but  from  the  lower  balconies  the 
horses  are  invisible  for  a  few  hundred  yards  when  rounding 
the  loop.  The  track  is  of  a  give-and-take  nature,  downhill 
at  first  for  something  like  half  a  mile,  and  then  a  gradual 
rise  to  the  Craven  Course  starting-post.  Round  the  loop 
there  is  another  sharp  rise,  and  to  the  junction  with  the 
straight  course  it  is  all  on  the  ascent.  Then  come  two 
furlongs  of  downhill,  whilst  the  finish  is  slightly  on  the 
ascent  again.  Such  a  varied  two  miles  and  a  half  on  such 
grand  old  turf,  such  a  Cup  course,  in  a  word,  is  not  to  be 
found  on  any  other  racecourse  in  the  kingdom,  for,  as 
already  remarked,  horses  running  over  the  same  distance 
at  Newmarket  are  out  of  sight  for  the  first  mile,  while  on 
the  early  portion  of  the  Flat  they  are  most  difficult  to  make 
out  unless  the  light  is  particularly  good  and  the  race-glasses 
very  powerful.  The  T.Y.C.  at  Goodwood  is  six  furlongs 
straight,  downhill  at  first,  and  with  a  rise  to  the  finish.  The 
Old  Mile  starting-post  is  on  the  upper  or  eastern  side  of 
the  loop,  but  it  is  not  the  last  mile  of  the  Cup  Course, 
as  the  horses  do  not  go  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  but  turn 
on  to  the  inner  course  and  join  the  straight  lower  down. 
The  Craven  Course  of  a  mile  and  two  furlongs  is  from  the 
western  end  of  the  loop  inwards  to  the  straight  course,  and 
then  home,  and  this  is  in  most  years  one  of  the  most 
popular  of  the  Goodwood  courses,  and  nothing  like  so 
difficult  as  are  some  courses  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter. 

As  has  been  the  case  with  many  other  old  meetings,  the 
Goodwood  programme  has  known  many  changes.  Sixty 
years  ago  very  little  added  money  was  given,  and  whereas 
nowadays  there  are  generally  twenty-seven  races  advertised 
for  the  four  days,  the  cards  were  then  considerably  shorter 
than  they  are  now.  Thus,  in  1838  there  were  five  races 
on  each  of  the  four  days,  yet,  sixteen  years  later,  in  1854, 
no  fewer  than  forty-three  races  were  run,  the  collective 
value  of  which  amounted  to  £32,389,  and  for  which  242 
horses  started.  This  was  when  the  meeting  was  at  its 
zenith,  during  that  period  of  Turf  history  when  Lord  George 
Bentinck  dominated  the  councils  of  the  Jockey  Club. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  there  has  been  a 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD 


85 


gradual  falling  off,  both  in  the  value  of  the  stakes  and  in 
the  number  of  runners,  but  even  now  the  prizes  are  well 
worth  winning,  and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  are 
of  fairly  even  character,  with  the  exception  of  the  Selling 
Plates,  and  that  there  is  no  monster  stake  to  attract  the 
crowd,  as  has  become  the  custom  at  several  of  the  en- 
closures. To  go  into  figures,  the  actual  stakes  to  the  winners 
in  1900  were:  On  Tuesday,  £3,515;  on  Wednesday,  £2,859; 
on  Thursday,  £6,605  ;  on  Friday,  £2,267.  Total,  £15,246. 
This  is  a  capital  total,  and  moreover  the  programme  pulls 
to  pieces  fairly  well,  though  long-distance  racing  is  not  so 
much  in  evidence  as  at  Ascot.  The  following  table  shows 
the  various  distances  over  which  last  year's  races  were 
run  : — 


The  Goodwood  Cup        .         .••{>, 

„  Goodwood  Stakes     . 

„  Gratwicke  Stakes    ;•*•» 

„  Craven  Stakes          .  .       .•*, 

„  Drayton  Handicap  .         ••;  , 

„  Chesterfield  Cup    .,«.,, ^     ;-H 

„  Charlton  Handicap  ,  t, 

,,  Sussex  Stakes       lt .r 

„  Corinthian  Plate      ^ .        ,4|, 

„  Visitors' Plate         ,../.         'I 

,,  Nassau  Stakes          .         _    . 

„  Ham  Stakes          "'?         r   "1 

,,  Stewards'  Cup 

„  Richmond  Stakes    .         !v: 

„  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes 

,,  Findon  Stakes 

,,  Rous  Memorial  Stakes     r-/. 

„  Molecomb  Stakes    .         \r-f 

„  West  Dean  Stakes   . 

,,  Halnaker  Stakes 

,,  Sweepstakes  of  ^£125 

„  Selling  Plate  (two-year-olds) 

,,  Lavant  Stakes 

„  Selling  Plate  (two-year-olds) 

„  Singleton  Plate 

„  Chichester  Stakes    . 

„  Selling  Stakes  (all  ages) 


2 1  miles. 
*\     » 

i     * 
mile  2  furlongs. 

»       2  „ 

2 


6  furlongs. 

6  „ 

6  „ 

6  „ 

6  „ 

6  „ 
6 


86  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  eleven  races 
of  a  mile  and  upwards,  and  sixteen  of  five  and  six  furlongs. 
Amongst  the  latter  class  are  several  overnight  Selling  Stakes, 
and  unfortunately  selling  races  at  Goodwood  seem  to  fare 
worse  than  at  any  other  place.  This  no  doubt  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  charges  for  stabling  are  very  high,  and  that 
the  place  is  not  easily  reached.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  an 
owner  of  a  selling  plater  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
is  little  use  running  his  horse  at  Goodwood  when  he  can  do 
so  at  half  the  cost  elsewhere,  and  that  "elsewhere"  there 
will  probably  be  a  much  larger  field,  and  consequently 
a  better  price  obtainable.  Wherever  a  plater  is  run  an 
entrance  fee  and  a  jockey's  fee  have  to  be  paid.  The  former 
is  usually  £3,  and  the  latter  nominally  £$  $s.  for  a  winning, 
and  £3  35.  for  a  losing  mount.  It  is  the  fact,  however,  that 
much  higher  fees  are  paid  to  the  best  jockeys,  even  in 
Selling  Plates,  especially  by  those  who  make  a  study  of  the 
game,  and  lay  themselves  out  for  Selling  Plate  coups.  For 
the  sake  of  argument,  however,  let  us  suppose  that  the 
owner  pays  the  regulation  jockey's  fee  only.  In  that  case 
his  lowest  liability  for  running  in  a  Selling  Plate  is  £6  3^., 
with  an  additional  £2  2s.  contingent  upon  his  horse's 
winning.  Then  if  he  elects  to  run  at  a  modern  enclosure 
he  may  spend  £2  more  in  railway  fare  for  his  horse  and 
stabling,  and  to  give  a  fair  margin  he  may  incur  a  total 
outlay  of  £10. 

Now,  at  Goodwood  stabling  is  scarce  and  dear,  and  from 
£7  to  £10  used  to  be  the  charge  for  a  box  a  few  years  ago, 
whether  used  for  one  night  only  or  for  the  whole  meeting. 
The  year  that  Philomel  won  the  Cup  for  Colonel  North  that 
gentleman's  trainer  was  charged  upwards  of  £100  for  the 
expense  of  taking  some  six  or  seven  horses  to  the  meeting, 
this  being  the  amount  of  the  bill  tendered  by  an  inhabitant 
of  the  village  of  Charlton,  who  put  up  the  trainer,  his  son, 
the  half-dozen  horses,  and  their  boys.  On  the  same 
occasion  a  Newmarket  trainer  brought  two  horses  on  the 
Monday  and  sent  them  back  on  the  Wednesday,  he  himself 
staying  on  until  the  end  of  the  meeting.  For  his  own  board 
and  lodging,  for  the  two  boxes,  for  forage,  and  for  the  boys 


9    I 


ASCOT  AND   GOODWOOD  87 

in  charge  of  the  nags  £35  was  charged,  and  this  bill  was 
shown  everywhere  for  weeks,  and  finally  published  in  a 
sporting  newspaper.  This  was  in  1890,  and  I  think  that 
since  that  time  many  of  the  smaller  owners  and  trainers 
have  fought  shy  of  the  place  in  consequence  of  the  high 
charges.  At  all  events,  careful  men  will  not  spend  £20  over 
running  a  plater  in  a  .£100  stake  at  Goodwood  when  they 
can  do  the  same  thing  for  less  than  half  the  sum  elsewhere. 
At  the  Goodwood  Meeting  of  1898  four  selling  races  were 
advertised  ;  one  of  them  failed  to  fill,  and  the  other  three 
brought  out  only  seventeen  horses  amongst  them.  Yet  just 
previously  Selling  Plate  fields  had  been  very  large  all  over 
the  country,  and  a  winner  at  Sandown  (Little  Saint)  had 
been  sold  for  1,600  guineas,  while  a  week  or  two  before 
Fairy  Field  had  been  bought  in  for  1,150  guineas,  after 
winning  at  Kempton  Park. 

For  many  years  past  the  Goodwood  Cup  has  been  but 
a  second-rate  sort  of  affair,  which  has  seldom  attracted  the 
best  Cup  horses  of  the  day.  Such  Ascot  Cup  winners  as 
Persimmon  and  Isinglass  never  attempted  to  win  the  Good- 
wood Cup,  probably  because  such  a  success  would  hardly 
have  helped  them  at  the  stud.  Indeed,  we  have  to  go  back 
to  the  middle  eighties,  when  The  Bard  and  St.  Simon  were 
winners  of  the  race,  to  find  the  very  best  class,  and  to  1889 
to  find  an  Ascot  Cup  winner  in  the  list.  The  last  to  com- 
plete the  double  event  was  Trayles,  but  previous  to  St 
Simon's  day  the  list  contained  many  great  names,  and  I 
need  only  mention  Isonomy,  Kincsem,  Hampton,  Doncaster, 
Flageolet,  and  Favonius  as  winners  well  within  my  memory. 
Indeed,  I  saw  Siderolite  win  before  any  of  these  had  come 
to  fame ;  and  in  those  days  the  race  was  unquestionably 
invested  with  far  greater  prestige  than  has  been  attached  to 
it  of  late.  All  the  more  welcome,  then,  was  the  news  that 
the  conditions  had  been  overhauled,  and  the  race  made  one 
of  £2,000  value.  For  this  reform  Lord  March  is  responsible, 
and  it  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  owners  will  respond  to 
this  call,  and  make  the  Goodwood  Cup  what  it  once  was — 
second  to  none  in  importance  among  long-distance  races, 
save  to  the  Gold  Cup  at  Ascot. 


CHAPTER  IV 
EPSOM 

Importance  of  Epsom — Size  of  crowd — Derby  winner  as  best  of  his  year — Some 
recent  winners — Galtee  More — Persimmon — Sir  Visto — Isinglass — Ladas — Sir 
Hugo — Common — Sainfoin — Ayrshire — Donovan — Jeddah — Flying  Fox — His 
pedigree  and  ancestors — Performances — Defeats  and  victories — Three-year-old 
career  of  Flying  Fox — The  great  sale  at  Kingsclere — Description  of  Flying 
Fox — Prince  of  Wales'  second  Derby — Diamond  Jubilee — His  singular  two- 
year-old  career — Comes  out  an  improved  three-year-old — How  he  won  the 
Guineas — What  happened  on  the  Newmarket  Stakes  day — Race  for  the  Derby 
—  Poor  Forfarshire  —  Description  of  Epsom  Course — Scene  on  the  hill — 
National  carnival — Epsom  stands — Advantage  of  horses  sometimes  running 
on  steep  gradients — Other  Epsom  courses — The  Metropolitan  Course — The 
Epsom  programme — Value  of  stakes — Two-year-old  events — The  City  and 
Suburban — Railway  arrangements — Special  trains — Charges. 

IN  many  respects  Epsom  is  the  most  important  racecourse 
in  the  kingdom.  It  has  withstood  the  rivalry  of  the 
modern  enclosure,  and  in  like  manner  its  Derby  has  not 
lost  caste  through  the  institution  of  the  ten-thousand-pound 
prize.  It  draws  a  far  bigger  crowd  than  does  any  other 
meeting,  open  or  enclosed,  and  yet  it  has  disadvantages 
innumerable  when  it  is  compared  with  any  of  the  more 
modern,  up-to-date  establishments.  Nevertheless,  in  spite 
of  these  disadvantages,  the  people  go  there  in  their  tens 
of  thousands,  both  in  the  spring  and  in  the  Derby  week  ; 
and  for  many  years  past  it  has  been  a  popular  article  of 
faith  that  at  least  a  million  people  are  present  when  the 
Derby  is  run,  though  thousands  of  these  do  not  see  the 
race  at  all,  other  attractions  of  one  sort  and  another  taking 
them  to  the  Downs  on  that  particular  day.  Still,  unless 
one  has  been  present  at  Epsom  on  a  Derby  day,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  realise  what  a  tremendous  hold  racing  has  on 
the  British  public.  That  London  supplies  the  greater  part 

88 


EPSOM  89 

of  the  crowd  goes  without  saying,  but  vast  numbers  come 
from  the  provinces  every  year,  and  in  this  respect  the 
attendance  is  much  more  cosmopolitan  than  are  the  at- 
tendances at  the  Park  meetings,  where — except  on  bank 
holidays — the  same  people  go  week  after  week,  so  that  it 
becomes  almost  difficult  to  pick  out  a  fresh  face  in  the 
paddocks. 

Epsom  was  in  its  glory  as  a  racing  centre  all  through 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  its  Derby  is  now  12 1  years 
old,  the  Oaks  being  a  year  older.  Almost  from  its  com- 
mencement the  Derby  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest 
contest  of  the  year,  and  even  now  the  same  opinion  pre- 
vails, and  the  Derby  is  still  the  blue  ribbon  of  the  Turf. 
Moreover,  a  Derby  winner  is  always  held  in  great  estimation 
by  the  breeders  of  blood  stock,  and  until  he  is  tried  and 
found  wanting  he  can  command  a  high  figure  when  sent 
to  the  stud.  As  a  general  rule,  too,  the  Derby  winner  is 
the  best  of  his  year,  and  though  it  occasionally  happens 
that  in  a  bad  year  the  race  is  won  by  a  bad  horse,  such  is 
the  exception.  Take,  for  instance,  the  last  dozen  years, 
from  1887,  when  Galtee  More  won.  About  the  famous  Irish 
horse  being  the  best  of  his  year  there  is  no  question  what- 
ever, and  to  dismiss  him  briefly,  he  was  quite  10  Ibs.  in 
front  of  any  other  three-year-old  who  carried  silk  that 
year.  Next  we  come  to  Persimmon,  and  though  the  Prince 
of  Wales'  equine  wonder  was  no  better  than  St.  Frus- 
quin  at  a  mile,  we  must  judge  the  pair  on  their  perform- 
ances, and  Persimmon  beat  the  Two  Thousand  winner  a 
neck  at  Epsom  over  a  mile  and  a  half,  but  when  giving  3  Ibs. 
at  Newmarket  at  a  mile  was  beaten  half  a  length  by 
Mr.  de  Rothschild's  colt.  So  far  there  was  little  or  nothing 
between  them,  but,  whereas  St.  Frusquin  never  ran  again 
after  winning  the  Eclipse  Stakes,  Persimmon  won  the  St. 
Leger  in  a  canter,  and  in  the  following  year  accounted 
for  the  Ascot  Cup  and  the  Eclipse  Stakes.  That  both 
were  horses  of  exceptional  merit  admits  of  no  doubt,  but 
St.  Frusquin  never  won  over  a  longer  course  than  the  ten 
furlongs  of  the  Eclipse  Stakes,  while  Persimmon  was  a  cup 
gem  of  the  first  water,  and  is  fairly  entitled  to  be  called 


90  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  best  of  his  year.  Galtee  More  and  Persimmon  were 
a  long  way  beyond  the  average  Derby  winner  in  point  of 
merit;  but  1895  was  a  Da-d  year,  yet  in  all  probability 
Sir  Visto  was,  with  perhaps  two  exceptions,  the  best  of  a 
moderate  lot.  He  was  beaten  in  the  Two  Thousand,  but 
he  won  both  Derby  and  St.  Leger  with  something  in  hand, 
and  if  there  was  a  better  three-year-old  that  year  I  should 
make  choice  between  Whittier  and  Marco.  The  first-named 
was  undoubtedly  the  best  two-year-old  of  the  previous  year, 
and  he  won  the  March  Stakes  in  great  style  when  a  three- 
year-old.  But  he  was  difficult  to  train,  and  was  not  a  good- 
tempered  horse,  and  very  little  was  heard  of  him  after  the 
spring  of  his  three-year-old  career.  Marco  had  no  classic 
engagements,  but  during  the  autumn  of  Sir  Visto's  year  he 
was  very  smart,  and  as  a  three-year-old  he  won  five  of  the 
seven  races  in  which  he  took  part,  his  victories  including  the 
Lewes  Handicap  under  7  st.  6  Ibs.,  and  the  Cambridgeshire, 
when  he  had  7  st.  9  Ibs.  in  the  saddle.  This  last-named  race 
he  won  in  a  hack  canter,  giving  no  less  than  i61bs.  to  Count 
Schomberg,  of  his  own  age,  and  beating  the  five-year-old 
Best  Man  at  19  Ibs.  The  three  first-named  were  the  placed 
horses,  and  amongst  the  unplaced  lot  were  Le  Justicier,  who 
had  won  the  Eclipse  Stakes  ;  None  the  Wiser ;  Green 
Lawn  ;  Portmarnock  ;  La  Sagesse,  who  won  the  Oaks  that 
year,  and  carried  I  Ib.  more  than  Marco ;  Rockdove,  winner 
of  the  Caesarewitch ;  and  Telescope,  who  had  run  second  to 
Sir  Visto  for  the  St.  Leger,  and  who  carried  1 3  Ibs.  less  than 
Marco ;  and  several  others  who  were  able  to  win  good  races. 
This  was  undoubtedly  the  best  three-year-old  performance 
of  the  year,  and  if  further  proof  was  necessary  that  Sir 
Visto  was  lucky  in  not  meeting  Marco  in  the  Derby  and 
St.  Leger,  it  was  afforded  in  the  following  autumn,  when 
the  two  met  in  the  Champion  Stakes  Across  the  Flat.  On 
that  occasion  the  pair  were  opposed  by  Whittier  and 
Labrador,  but  of  Whittier's  running  little  heed  can  be 
taken,  as  the  horse  was  not  wound  up  and  was  not  in  the 
least  fancied.  He  had  beaten  Marco  as  a  three-year-old, 
but  now  100  to  8  was  offered  against  him  in  a  field  of  four, 
Sir  Visto  starting  favourite  at  5  to  4,  with  Marco  well  backed 


EPSOM  91 

at  2  to  i.  The  Cambridgeshire  winner  of  the  previous 
year  had  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  defeating  Sir  Visto, 
but  he  was  unable  to  give  8  Ibs.  to  Labrador,  the  runner- 
up  to  Persimmon  for  the  St.  Leger,  and  certainly  Labrador 
was  smart  then,  though  he  afterwards  deteriorated.  Neither 
was  Marco  so  good  at  four  years  old  as  he  had  been  when 
a  year  younger ;  but  it  was  the  hard  ground  that  stopped 
him,  and  he  was  never  properly  wound  up  after  the  winter 
following  his  meritorious  three  -  year  -  old  career.  He  had 
bad  feet,  and  consequently  gave  his  trainer  a  lot  of  trouble, 
but  during  the  autumn  of  1895  tne  g°mg  was  Just  to  n*s 
liking,  and  he  would  most  certainly  have  won  the  Cambridge- 
shire with  8  stone  in  the  saddle.  All  the  running  of  the 
two  horses  suggests  that  Marco  would  have  won  both  Derby 
and  St.  Leger  had  he  been  engaged  therein,  but  he  went 
to  the  stud  at  a  lower  figure  than  Sir  Visto,  and  this  shows 
what  prestige  is  still  attached  to  a  Derby  winner. 

In  1893  and  1894  the  Derby  winners  were  Isinglass  and 
Ladas,  and  most  certainly  these  were  respectively  the  best 
of  their  years.  Isinglass  was  in  fact  a  great  horse,  and  an 
Ascot  Cup  winner,  and  if  Ladas  was  not  quite  in  the  same 
class,  he  was  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  thoroughbred, 
who  might  have  lasted  longer  on  the  turf  had  his  pasterns 
been  a  trifle  longer  and  stronger.  He  was  defeated  by 
Throstle  in  the  St.  Leger,  but  there  was  something  very 
fluky  about  that  race,  and,  moreover,  Throstle  was  a  great 
mare  when  she  chose  to  give  her  best  running.  A  more 
beautiful  mover  than  Ladas  has  not  been  seen  for  many 
a  year.  He  went  to  the  stud  with  a  far  higher  reputation 
than  Sir  Visto,  and  it  was  understood  that  his  subscription 
was  filled  for  two  years  privately,  but  at  a  price  which 
has  never  been  made  public.  The  previous  winner  of  the 
Derby  to  Ladas  was  Sir  Hugo,  and  though  this  colt  beat 
La  Fleche  in  the  Derby,  the  latter  was  the  best  of  the 
year  and  turned  the  tables  most  decisively  on  her  Epsom 
conqueror  in  the  St.  Leger.  Still  Sir  Hugo  was  the  second 
best  colt  of  his  year,  the  best  no  doubt  being  Orme,  who 
was  unable  to  take  part  in  the  Derby,  and  whose  St.  Leger 
chance  was  spoilt  by  the  reckless  manner  in  which  he 


92  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

was  ridden,  and  that  his  reputation  was  a  great  one  was 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he  went  to  the  stud  at  a  fee 
of  150  guineas  and  that  his  subscription  was  soon  filled 
.at  that  price.  How  Sir  Hugo  came  to  beat  La  Fleche 
in  the  Derby  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  argument 
ever  since,  and  the  general  opinion  is  that  the  mare  was 
"  steadied  "  so  long  when  coming  down  the  hill  that  she  had 
no  chance  of  making  up  her  ground  afterwards.  This  may 
be  the  correct  version  of  the  case,  and  it  is  certain  that  La 
Fleche  was  worse  placed  half-way  between  the  top  of  the 
hill  and  Tattenham  Corner  than  she  had  been  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  race ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  in 
the  Oaks  two  days  later  she  only  just  scraped  home,  and 
her  running  in  both  races  suggests  that  she  was  not  in 
the  same  form  which  she  showed  later  in  the  year,  notably 
when  she  won  the  St.  Leger,  the  Lancashire  Plate,  and 
the  Cambridgeshire.  In  the  last-named  race  she  carried 
(being  then  a  three-year-old)  8  st.  10  Ibs.,  and  came  out 
of  the  Dip  with  the  race  in  hand.  She  was  as  game  a  bit 
of  stuff  as  ever  carried  silk,  and  was  quite  the  best  mare 
of  the  last  quarter  of  the  century. 

In  1891  Common  won  not  only  the  Derby,  but  the  Two 
Thousand  and  the  St.  Leger  as  well,  and  he  showed  con- 
siderable superiority  to  all  his  opponents,  and  was  un- 
questionably the  best  of  his  year.  That  it  was  a  great 
year  cannot  be  for  a  moment  suggested,  and  perhaps 
Common  as  the  hero  of  a  triple  classic  victory  gained 
more  fame  than  was  his  due.  Yet  he  was  a  big,  upstanding, 
Isonomy  horse,  and  he  was  as  sound  as  a  bell  of  brass 
when  taken  out  of  training.  This  happened  almost  im- 
mediately after  the  St.  Leger,  Common  being  bought  for 
a  long  figure  (£15,000  was  stated  to  be  the  price)  by 
Sir  J.  Blundell  Maple  for  stud  purposes  alone.  As  a  two- 
year-old  Common  never  ran,  and  his  name  was  never 
mentioned  in  connection  with  classic  races  until  quite  late 
in  the  spring.  He  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  Two 
Thousand,  for  which  9  to  I  was  offered  against  him  at 
the  start,  but  he  won  very  decisively,  and  the  Derby  and 
St.  Leger  were  just  as  easily  secured. 


EPSOM  93 

In  1890  Sainfoin  won  the  Derby  for  Sir  James  Miller, 
and  that  this  horse  was  not  the  best  of  his  year  has  been 
an  accepted  fact  ever  since.  The  field  he  beat  for  the 
Derby  were  unfortunately  not  only  moderate  for  the  most 
part,  but  some  of  them  were  rogues  in  addition,  notably 
Surefoot  and  Le  Nord.  Surefoot  ought  to  have  won  the 
race,  and  would  have  done  so  had  he  put  any  heart  into 
his  work,  but  he  was  trying  to  savage  other  horses  instead 
of  attending  to  the  business  in  hand  ;  yet  he  finished  close 
up  with  the  winner.  Probably  Surefoot  was  the  best  of 
his  year,  at  all  events  up  to  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  and  a 
year  later  he  created  a  big  surprise  by  winning  the  Eclipse 
Stakes  at  Sandown,  when  Common  was  beaten  into  third 
place.  However,  such  a  bad-mannered  horse  as  Surefoot 
will  go  down  to  posterity  as  a  savage  rather  than  as  the 
best  of  his  year,  and,  all  things  considered,  the  award  of 
merit  must  go  to  Memoir,  who  won  the  Oaks  and  St.  Leger, 
and  who  could  have  won  the  One  Thousand  also  had  not 
the  Duke  of  Portland  made  a  declaration  to  win  with 
Semolina.  Memoir's  St.  Leger  was  a  curious  race,  and 
there  was  so  much  squeezing  at  the  Intake  turn  that  the 
chances  of  some  half-dozen  horses  were  destroyed.  Mean- 
while Memoir  secured  a  clear  course  and  scored  the  win 
quite  easily.  Those  who  were  said  to  have  suffered  most 
were  St.  Serf,  Queen's  Birthday,  and  Heaume,  and  probably 
all  these  three  were  better  than  Sainfoin,  whose  career  after 
his  Derby  victory  was  a  most  inglorious  one,  and  who  so 
far  has  been  a  very  qualified  success  at  the  stud. 

The  two  previous  winners  to  Sainfoin  were  Ayrshire  and 
Donovan,  and  the  latter  was  certainly  considerably  the 
best  of  his  year,  though  he  suffered  defeat  from  Enthusiast 
in  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas.  In  stake  money  Donovan 
won  more  than  has  ever  been  won  by  any  horse  before 
or  since,  with  the  exception  of  Isinglass,  and  at  the  stud 
he  has  sired  Velasquez.  About  Ayrshire  the  case  is  not 
so  clear.  He  won  the  Two  Thousand  and  Derby,  but 
was  fairly  and  squarely  beaten  in  the  St.  Leger  by  Sea- 
breeze, and  this  beautiful  filly  also  beat  the  Duke  of  Port- 
land's colt  in  the  valuable  Lancashire  Stakes.  Indeed,  most 


94  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

good  judges  would  declare  Seabreeze  to  have  been  the  best 
of  her  year ;  but  I  have  now  gone  through  ten  years,  and 
according  to  my  judgment  the  claims  of  Galtee  More, 
Persimmon,  Ladas,  Isinglass,  Common,  and  Donovan  cannot 
be  disputed.  Ayrshire  has  a  rival  in  Seabreeze,  Sir  Hugo 
was  admittedly  inferior  to  La  Fleche,  while  a  good  case 
can  be  made  out  against  Sir  Visto.  Sainfoin  on  the  other 
hand  has  no  claims  to  the  title  of  best  of  his  year,  and 
thus  while  six  winners  out  of  the  ten  will  always  hold 
the  title,  two  others  (Ayrshire  and  Sir  Visto)  will  always 
dispute  it  merely,  and  only  two  are  clean  out  of  it.  In 
the  case  of  Sir  Hugo,  it  will  be  said  that  he  was  the  second 
best  colt  of  his  year,  though  not  the  equal  of  La  Fleche. 
Jeddah,  the  winner  in  1898,  was  a  very  moderate  horse  in 
a  very  moderate  year,  but  amongst  Derby  winners  Flying 
Fox,  the  hero  of  1899,  will  always  take  very  high  rank, 
indeed  by  some  critics  he  has  been  spoken  of  as  one  of 
the  horses  of  the  century.  That  he  has  claims  to  such  a 
position  will  hardly  be  denied,  and  though  he  failed  twice 
when  a  two-year-old,  he  passed  from  one  triumph  to  another 
a  year  later,  and  in  my  time  I  can  recollect  no  other  race- 
horse who  put  on  such  a  wonderful  sequence  of  victories 
with  so  little  trouble  to  himself.  He  won  all  his  three- 
year-old  engagements  in  a  canter,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
season  he  stood  out  about  a  stone  and  a  half  in  front  of 
the  next  best  of  his  age.  In  the  spring  of  his  four-year- 
old  career  he  was  sold  to  a  French  owner,  M.  Blanc,  and 
was  at  once  sent  to  the  stud.  Thus  we  have  had  no 
opportunity  of  judging  what  kind  of  a  four-year-old  he 
would  have  made,  but  he  was  as  sound  as  a  bell  when 
taken  out  of  training,  and  on  the  day  he  was  sold  his 
muscular  development  was  simply  extraordinary,  a  some- 
what singular  circumstance,  because  the  great  Kingsclere 
sale  was  held  in  March,  just  at  the  end  of  the  average 
racehorse's  easy  time,  and  before  anything  like  strong  work 
had  been  begun. 

Flying  Fox  was  bred  at  the  Eaton  Stud  by  the  late  Duke 
of  Westminster,  and  is  a  son  of  Orme  out  of  Vampire 
by  Galopin,  her  dam  Irony  by  Rosebery  out  of  Sarcasm 


EPSOM  95 

by  Breadalbane.  Vampire  and  Irony  were  bred  by  Mr. 
J.  G.  Hodgson,  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Sarcasm  was  bred  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Williamson  at  the 
Whitfield  Stud,  near  Liverpool,  and  was  owned  by  Mr. 
Williamson  and  Mr.  J.  G.  Hodgson  jointly.  She  was  sent 
to  Wadlow  at  Stanton,  and  was,  as  a  two-year-old,  being 
prepared  to  run  at  Chester,  when  she  had  a  severe  attack 
of  congestion  of  the  muscles  of  the  loins,  and  never  seemed 
to  recover  her  action.  Mr.  Williamson  shortly  afterwards 
gave  up  his  stud,  and  sold  his  half- share  in  Sarcasm  to 
Mr.  Hodgson,  for  whom  she  first  bred  a  grey  colt  to 
Strathconan,  who,  when  trained  by  Charles  Lund  at  Malton, 
won  a  small  race.  The  best  she  bred,  however,  was  the 
said  Irony,  a  very  useful  mare,  who  was  trained  by 
William  I'Anson  at  Malton.  I'Anson,  however,  could  never 
quite  get  her  to  his  liking,  owing  to  a  troublesome  splint 
which  no  blistering  could  cure.  Nevertheless,  she  won  the 
Newcastle  Autumn  Handicap,  the  Thirsk  Handicap,  and 
the  Pontefract  Handicap,  and  was  a  good  stayer  and  good- 
looking.  Her  first  foal  was  Lamprey  by  Beauclerc,  who  won 
the  Molyneux  Stakes  at  Liverpool  the  first  time  out,  and 
later  the  Fitzwilliam  Stakes  at  Doncaster  for  Mr.  Hodgson. 
Unfortunately  he  turned  rogue,  and  was  allowed  to  leave 
the  stable  after  winning  the  Fitzwilliam.  Irony  continued 
to  breed,  but  though  her  yearlings  sold  well  they  were 
moderate  until  she  threw  Vampire  to  Galopin.  This  filly 
Mr.  Hodgson  sold  privately  to  Mr.  Noel  Fenwick  for  ;£i,ooo, 
and  after  she  had  won  one  race  the  last-named  gentleman 
sold  her  to  the  late  Duke  of  Westminster  for  (I  believe)  the 
same  sum  that  he  had  given.  On  her  arrival  at  the  Eaton 
Stud  the  late  Duke  tried  unsuccessfully  to  persuade  Mr.  Fen- 
wick  to  take  her  back,  and  it  is  common  knowledge  that 
she  is  a  troublesome  mare  to  deal  with  to  this  day.  Indeed, 
had  she  been  a  good  "traveller,"  instead  of  being  almost 
impossible  to  "box,"  she  might  never  have  been  put  to 
Orme  (because  of  his  very  close  inbreeding  to  Galopin),  and 
in  that  case  there  would  have  been  no  Flying  Fox. 

As  a  two-year-old  Flying  Fox  made  his  first  appearance 
in  the  New  Stakes  at  Ascot,  and,  having  won  a  fair  Kings- 


96  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

clere  trial,  started  a  hot  favourite.  He  ran  just  a  trifle  green, 
but  won  cleverly,  being  followed  past  the  post  by  Musa, 
who  was  destined  to  win  the  Oaks  a  year  later.  At  this 
period  of  his  career  Flying  Fox  was  a  light-framed,  wiry 
colt,  who  carried  far  less  substance  than  many  of  Bend 
Or's  descendants.  His  limbs,  however,  were  perfection, 
and  his  action,  when  extended,  remarkably  fine.  When 
galloping  he  swept  over  the  ground  with  a  smooth,  far- 
reaching  stride,  and  the  regularity  of  a  machine,  and  when 
full  pressure  was  turned  on  he  gave  one  the  idea  of  being 
a  much  bigger  horse  than  he  really  was.  In  his  slow 
paces  he  was  not  seen  to  such  advantage,  and  on  his  way 
to  the  post  he  was  inclined  to  potter  along  until  his  jockey 
took  him  by  the  head  and  asked  him  to  gallop. 

The  Ascot  performance  created  a  most  favourable  im- 
pression, which  was  in  no  way  lessened  when  the  colt 
cantered  away  from  No  Trumps  in  the  Stockbridge  Foal 
Stakes,  with  nearly  a  stone  the  worst  of  the  weights ;  but 
at  Kempton  Park,  early  in  October,  Flying  Fox  sustained  the 
first  of  the  only  two  defeats  he  met  with  during  his  racing 
career,  and  I  have  always  been  strongly  of  opinion  that, 
in  this  race  at  least,  he  should  not  have  been  beaten.  The 
contest  was  the  Imperial  Produce  Stakes,  which,  in  1898, 
was  about  the  most  valuable  two-year-old  prize  of  the 
year.  Flying  Fox  put  up  the  full  penalty,  and  was  beaten 
a  head  by  St.  Gris,  to  whom  he  was  presenting  5  Ibs.  The 
pair  finished  very  wide  of  each  other,  and  I  believe  it  is 
a  fact  that  M.  Cannon — who  was  on  the  stand  side  and 
nearest  the  judge's  box — thought  he  had  won,  whilst  the 
deceased  noble  owner  of  Flying  Fox  entertained  no  doubt 
at  all  upon  the  point.  The  jockey  afterwards  stated  that 
he  could  have  got  more  out  of  his  horse  had  he  thought  it 
necessary,  but  being  of  opinion  that  he  was  a  good  head  in 
front  during  the  last  fifty  yards  of  the  race,  he  did  not  push 
his  mount  as  he  might  otherwise  have  done.  St.  Gris  was, 
however,  a  good  horse  at  the  time,  and  even  if  the  form  was 
right  it  was  no  great  slur  on  the  Fox's  escutcheon  to  be 
beaten  a  head  by  him  when  giving  5  Ibs. 

This  Kempton  race  was  run  on  a  Friday,  and  exactly  a 


EPSOM  97 

week  later  Flying  Fox  was  sent  to  Newmarket  to  oppose 
the  American  horse  Caiman,  in  the  Middle  Park  Plate. 
What  took  place  on  that  occasion  has  been  a  constant  topic 
of  conversation  among  racing  men  ever  since.  There  was  a 
terribly  strong  wind  blowing  right  up  the  course,  and  Sloan, 
who  rode  Caiman,  came  right  through  with  his  mount,  and 
in  my  opinion  stole  the  race.  Afterwards  a  great  deal  was 
said  about  wind  pressure,  and  how  the  little  American, 
hidden  behind  his  horse's  neck,  had  presented  so  small  a 
surface  of  resistance  to  the  gale,  that  it  meant  an  advan- 
tage of  7  or  i o  Ibs.  But  the  fact  is — and  I  admit  that 
under  the  very  unusual  circumstances  the  American  seat 
must  have  been  an  advantage — that  Flying  Fox  was  waited 
with  too  long,  and  when  Cannon  sent  him  out  there  was  too 
much  ground  to  make  up.  The  colt's  effort  out  of  the 
Abingdon  Mile  Bottom  was  a  grand  one,  and  stamped  him 
as  the  gamest  of  the  game.  The  result  of  the  race  was  a 
fluke,  and  even  with  a  similar  head  gale  blowing  such  a 
result  would  never  have  occurred  again,  unless,  for  a  second 
time,  the  English  jockey  had  allowed  the  American  to  get  so 
far  ahead. 

It  may  also  be  stated  here,  on  the  word  of  no  less  an 
authority  than  John  Porter,  the  colt's  trainer,  that  Flying 
Fox  was  not  himself  either  at  Kempton  or  in  the  Caesare- 
witch  week.  Porter  did  not  wish  to  run  him,  and  had  his 
probably  very  mild  advice  been  taken,  it  is  quite  certain  that 
Flying  Fox  would  have  copied  the  example  of  his  grandsire 
Ormonde,  and  retired  from  the  turf  an  unbeaten  horse. 
Luckily  the  colt  took  no  harm  from  his  two  defeats,  and 
came  out  again  in  the  Houghton  week  to  oppose  his  old 
conqueror  St.  Gris  in  the  Criterion  Stakes.  With  the 
Kempton  running  only  three  weeks  old,  backers  were  much 
divided  in  their  choice,  and  at  the  start  Flying  Fox  had 
only  a  fractional  call  of  St.  Frusquin's  half-brother.  In  the 
race,  however,  he  made  hacks  of  the  opposition,  winning  in 
a  canter  from  Sinopi — in  receipt  of  a  lot  of  weight — with 
St.  Gris  beaten  out  of  the  first  three.  The  performance 
was  about  the  smoothest  accomplished  by  a  two-year-old 
during  the  season,  and  the  way  Flying  Fox  collared  the  stiff 


98  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

ascent  of  the  Criterion  Course  was  strongly  indicative  of 
what  was  to  take  place  in  the  classic  races  of  the  following 
year. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  Flying  Fox's  three  -  year  -  old 
career  was  a  most  remarkable  one.  All  through  the  winter 
he  did  as  well  as  it  is  possible  for  a  horse  to  do,  and  during 
the  early  spring  it  was  an  open  secret  that  he  had  made 
far  more  than  the  usual  improvement  from  two  to  three 
years  of  age.  The  upshot  was  that  when  he  went  to  the 
post  for  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  slight  odds  were 
laid  on  his  chance,  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  opposed 
by  his  Middle  Park  Plate  conqueror,  Caiman.  In  this 
race  no  waiting  policy  was  pursued  and  the  Kingsclere  colt, 
coming  away  at  score,  had  all  his  opponents  dead  settled 
shortly  after  the  Bushes  were  passed.  The  judge's  verdict 
was  only  two  lengths,  but  the  Two  Thousand  was  never 
more  easily  won,  and  the  winner  was  eased  up  long  before 
the  post  was  reached.  The  horse  literally  won  in  a  canter, 
and  had  there  been  no  Holocauste  in  the  Derby  field  it 
is  extremely  probable  that  at  least  5  to  i  would  have 
been  laid  on  Flying  Fox  for  the  great  Epsom  race.  As 
it  was  he  started  at  half  that  price,  and  though  he  was 
perhaps  hardly  seen  to  so  great  advantage  as  he  had  been 
at  Newmarket  a  month  before,  he  nevertheless  asserted 
great  superiority,  and  was  out  by  himself  in  the  last  quarter 
of  a  mile.  That  an  element  of  danger  was  removed  when 
the  French  horse  Holocauste  fell  and  broke  his  leg  is  just 
on  the  cards,  but  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  the  ill-fated 
grey  would  have  done  had  he  stood  up,  as  the  accident 
occurred  almost  half  a  mile  from  home,  and  long  before 
the  crucial  point  had  been  reached.  Full  pressure  had 
indeed  not  been  turned  on,  and  I  must  leave  the  subject 
with  the  remark  that  Holocauste  was  lying  well  up  with 
his  horses  when  he  came  to  grief,  and  that  all  speculations 
as  to  what  he  might  or  might  not  have  done  are  futile. 
The  broad  fact  remains  that  Flying  Fox  was  a  far  easier 
winner  of  the  Derby  than  were  Persimmon  and  Isinglass, 
for  he  was  never  seriously  challenged  in  the  run  home, 
and  won  without  the  aid  of  whip  or  spur,  Cannon  only 


EPSOM  99 

shaking  him  up  with  his  hands  somewhere  about  the 
distance-post  Even  Ormonde  did  not  defeat  The  Bard 
in  such  summary  fashion  as  Flying  Fox  did  Damocles 
and  Innocence,  but  the  little  Petrarch  horse  was  of  far 
better  class  than  the  Derby  second  and  third  of  1899,  and 
it  has  often  been  urged  that  the  weak  point  in  Flying  Fox's 
history  was  that  he  never  had  much  to  beat 

About  this  time  it  was  thoroughly  recognised  that  Flying 
Fox  was  an  exceptionally  good  colt,  and  far  superior  to 
the  next  best  of  his  year.  It  was  hoped  that  he  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  Cyllene  in  one  of  the 
ten -thousand -pounders,  but  such  a  meeting  was  not  to 
take  place,  Cyllene  going  amiss  in  training  just  when  the 
excitement  of  such  a  contest  was  beginning  to  make  itself 
felt  Thus  it  came  about  that  when  Flying  Fox  met 
four-year-olds  they  were  only  the  second  best  form  of  the 
previous  year.  After  the  Derby  the  Princess  of  Wales' 
Stakes  at  Newmarket  (in  July)  was  his  next  outing,  and 
here  of  course  he  put  up  the  extreme  penalty,  and  met 
the  four-year-old  Ninus — who  had  just  won  the  Hardwicke 
Stakes  at  Ascot — at  6  Ibs.  for  the  year.  The  only  other 
four-year-olds  in  the  field  were  Greenan  and  Dieudonne, 
but  the  threes  included  Musa,  who  had  won  the  Oaks  a 
month  before,  My  Boy,  who  had  finished  close  up  with 
the  placed  horses  in  the  Derby,  and  a  brace  of  maidens 
in  Royal  Emblem  and  Birkenhead,  both  of  whom  had 
been  talked  about  and  to  whom  the  Derby  winner  was  set 
to  give  17  Ibs.  each.  All  those  mentioned,  except  Musa  (in 
receipt  of  9  Ibs,),  were  more  or  less  fancied  at  the  weights ; 
thus  backers  could  support  the  Fox  by  laying  6  to  4  on 
— a  very  liberal  price  when  the  betting  is  judged  by  what 
took  place. 

The  race  was  an  extraordinary  affair,  and  will  probably 
live  long  in  the  memories  of  those  who  saw  rL  The 
colt,  as  I  have  said,  had  the  full  penalty  in  the  saddle  and 
was  meeting  all  his  opponents  at  a  great  disadvantage  in 
weight,  yet  he  made  them  appear  like  a  field  of  bad  selling 
platers,  so  easily  did  he  beat  them.  As  in  the  Two  Thousand 
Guineas,  Mornington  Cannon  adopted  forcing  tactics,  and 


100  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

starting  very  wide  of  his  field  on  the  extreme  right,  he 
came  along  with  such  a  terrific  burst  of  speed  that  the 
whips  were  going  on  all  the  others  by  the  time  the  corner 
of  the  plantation  was  reached.  At  this  period  of  the  race 
Flying  Fox  was  so  far  in  front  of  his  nearest  opponent 
that  Cannon  brought  him  over  from  right  to  left,  crossing 
in  front  of  his  field,  not  one  of  whom  had  a  struggle  left. 
Then  he  let  his  horse  stride  along  at  ease,  and  so  easily 
was  the  victory  gained  that  it  looked  as  if  Flying  Fox  could 
not  have  been  beaten  had  he  carried  1 1  st.  instead  of  9  st. 
5  Ibs. 

The  Eclipse  Stakes  at  Sandown  followed  three  weeks 
later,  and  this  time  odds  of  100  to  14  were  laid  on  Flying 
Fox,  who  was  again  opposed  by  Ninus,  and  was  also 
accompanied  to  the  post  by  his  stable  companion,  Frontier. 
This  time  the  crack  was  waited  with  until  they  were  close 
home,  when  he  went  out  and  won  as  he  liked  from  Frontier, 
the  late  Duke  of  Westminster  thus  securing  both  first  and 
second  money.  In  the  St.  Leger  Caiman  once  more  opposed 
Flying  Fox,  and  such  great  improvement  was  the  American 
horse  thought  to  have  made  that  as  little  as  4  to  i  was 
accepted  about  him,  while  backers  of  the  Derby  winner 
could  get  on  by  laying  7  to  2.  The  race,  however,  was  all 
one  way,  Flying  Fox  winning  the  rubber  with  Caiman,  and 
completing  the  triple  classic  event  in  the  most  decisive 
fashion. 

Only  once  again  did  Flying  Fox  carry  silk,  viz.  in  the 
Jockey  Club  Stakes,  and  this  time  he  was  afforded  the 
chance  of  meeting  the  Derby  winner  of  the  previous  year. 
It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  Jeddah  had  received  a  very 
half-and-half  sort  of  preparation  owing  to  leg  trouble,  and 
was  indeed  never  really  trained  when  a  four-year-old. 
Neither  he  nor  any  other  horse  in  the  field  could  extend 
Flying  Fox,  who  won  the  race  much  after  the  fashion  in 
which  he  had  taken  the  Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  three 
months  before,  except  that  he  did  not  change  sides  in  the 
course  of  the  race.  In  this,  his  last  public  appearance,  odds 
of  8  to  i  were  laid  on  Flying  Fox,  and  as  much  as  100 
to  7  were  offered  against  the  second  favourite,  Scintillant, 


EPSOM  101 

placed  in  the  St.  Leger,  who  now  had  a  pull  in  the  weights 
of  1 1  Ibs.,  and  who,  a  fortnight  later,  was  destined  to  win  the 
Caesarewitch. 

The  last  chapter  in  the  English  history  of  Flying  Fox 
was  the  sale  at  Kingsclere  in  March,  1900,  of  the  late  Duke 
of  Westminster's  horses  in  training.  The  whole  sale  was 
a  wonderful  one  ;  nineteen  horses  in  training — of  whom  four 
were  untried  two-year-old  geldings  that  commanded  very 
little  money — were  sold  for  a  total  of  70,440  guineas,  or  an 
average  of  over  3,707  guineas  apiece.  Flying  Fox  was  of 
course  the  hero  of  the  hour,  and  was  put  in  at  a  reserve 
of  30,000  guineas,  this  reserve  being  even  a  higher  price 
than  had  ever  been  paid  at  auction  for  a  thoroughbred 
before.  (Ormonde  once  changed  hands  privately  for  some- 
thing like  £30,000,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out 
the  exact  amount,  the  money  having  been  paid  in  South 
America,  and  the  sum  was  inclusive  of  certain  charges.)  Un- 
fortunately there  were  few  English  bidders  prepared  to  go 
to  so  much  money,  and  the  battle  for  possession  was  fought 
out  by  an  American  and  a  French  buyer,  the  Frenchman 
securing  the  horse  at  37,500  guineas,  a  sum  which,  I  need 
hardly  say,  constituted  a  record.  M.  Blanc,  the  new  owner 
of  the  1899  Derby  winner,  sent  Flying  Fox  to  the  stud 
at  once,  and  whether  he  is  to  carry  on  the  line  of  Bend 
Or  as  his  immediate  ancestors  have  done  has  yet  to  be 
proved.  In  taking  leave  of  certainly  one  of  the  greatest 
Derby  winners  of  modern  times,  I  am  tempted  to  quote 
a  description  of  him  as  he  looked  on  the  sale  day,  which 
appeared  in  the  Field  on  the  Saturday  after  the  sale,  and 
which  tallies  with  my  own  ideas  of  the  horse : — 

"  Flying  Fox  monopolised  chief  attention,  and  the  great  horse 
never  looked  better  in  his  life.  Though  the  year  is  yet  so  young  he 
carried  little  or  no  superfluous  flesh,  and  was,  indeed,  as  hard  as 
a  cricket  ball  and  as  bright  as  a  star.  Four  better  or  finer  legs  we 
never  saw  on  a  thoroughbred;  but,  considering  his  size,  his  hocks 
are  undoubtedly  somewhat  far  from  the  ground,  and  his  arms  rather 
short.  The  most  wonderful  thing  about  him  just  now  is  the 
muscular  development  on  his  shoulder  and  neck,  and  here  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  Flying  Fox  never  carries  any  flesh  on  his  flanks. 


102  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

As  many  of  our  readers  will  know,  the  horse  has  never  been  great 
in  substance,  but  the  fact  is  that  what  substance  he  has  got  he 
carries  in  the  proper  places,  and  never  where  it  is  only  an  en- 
cumbrance. On  Thursday  one  could  count  his  ribs,  and  yet  the 
horse  was  quite  the  reverse  of  thin.  In  appearance  he  has  un- 
doubtedly improved,  and,  as  has  always  been  the  case  with  him,  the 
more  he  is  examined 'the  more  difficult  it  is  to  find  a  fault.  Of 
course,  there  was  never  any  horse  foaled  about  whom  nothing  in 
disparagement  could  be  said,  but  if  we  remark  that  Flying  Fox 
might  be  an  inch  and  a  half  longer  in  the  neck,  and  had  rather 
a  prettier  head — without  the  drooping  ears — we  have  said  all  that 
we  can  possibly  urge  against  him." 

In  1900  the  Prince  of  Wales  won  his  second  Derby,  and, 
curiously  enough,  the  winner  is  a  full  brother  to  Persimmon, 
who  carried  the  Royal  colours  to  victory  in  1896.  That 
Diamond  Jubilee  will  ever  take  quite  the  same  high  rank 
as  a  racehorse  that  Persimmon  did  cannot  be  affirmed  or 
denied  as  yet,  but  that  he  is  a  Derby  winner  of  more  than 
average  merit  seems  quite  certain,  yet  no  Epsom  hero  of 
modern  times  has  had  a  more  curious  history  or  given  such 
totally  different  running. 

The  Coventry  Stakes  at  Ascot  was  chosen  for  the  de'but 
of  this  handsome  colt — who  was  foaled  in  the  Diamond 
Jubilee  year,  and  named  by  the  Princess  of  Wales — and  so 
well  had  he  been  tried  that  only  the  slightest  shade  of  odds 
was  offered  against  him,  though  such  previous  winners  as 
Vain  Duchess,  Chevening,  and  Bourne  Bridge  were  in  the 
field.  John  Watts  had  the  mount  on  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
colt,  and  as  they  approached  the  distance  it  looked  as  if  he 
was  about  to  win  easily  enough.  Two  hundred  yards  from 
home,  however,  the  colt  swerved  badly  to  the  left,  and 
putting  no  heart  into  his  work  when  pulled  straight  again, 
could  only  finish  fourth  to  Democrat,  Vain  Duchess,  and  the 
French  filly  Lucie  II.  This  was  a  bad  beginning  for  one  of 
such  distinguished  lineage  and  great  good-looks,  but  worse 
was  to  follow,  and  in  my  experience  I  can  recollect  no  future 
Derby  winner  behaving  worse  than  Diamond  Jubilee  did  in 
the  July  Stakes  at  Newmarket.  For  this  event  there  were 
half  a  dozen  runners,  and  as  the  other  five  seemed  to  be 


EPSOM  103 

moderate,  Diamond  Jubilee  was  backed  against  the  field, 
in  spite  of  his  wayward  show  at  Ascot. 

Watts  again  had  the  mount,  and  the  colt  got  rid  of  him 
at  the  post,  galloping  riderless  to  the  back  of  the  stands. 
He  was  caught  and  taken  back,  but  in  the  race  he  would  not 
try  a  yard,  and  finished  the  absolute  last  of  the  half-dozen, 
something  like  eighty  yards  behind  Captain  Kettle  and 
Galveston,  the  first-named — a  great  lengthy  son  of 
Buccaneer  and  Comette,,  who  was  bred  by  Mr.  Waring 
at  Beenham  House — winning  cleverly  for  Mr.  Wallace  John- 
stone  in  Allsopp's  hands.  A  more  wayward  performance 
on  the  part  of  a  good-looking  young  horse  who  was  known 
to  possess  smart  form  was  never  seen,  but  even  then  his 
stable,  and  the  general  public  also,  were  not  wholly  dis- 
couraged, for  at  Goodwood,  when  he  ran  for  the  Prince  of 
Wales'  Stakes,  they  again  made  him  favourite,  taking  as 
little  as  7  to  4  about  him,  although  one  of  his  opponents 
was  Alt-na-bea,  who  had  run  third  in  the  July  Stakes 
referred  to  above.  This  time  M.  Cannon  had  the  mount, 
and  though  it  was  quite  evident  that  Diamond  Jubilee  had 
the  foot  of  his  field,  he  curled  up  when  the  pinch  came,  and 
allowed  himself  to  be  beaten  half  a  length  by  the  very 
moderate  Epsom  Lad. 

After  Goodwood  nothing  was  seen  of  the  future  Derby 
winner  until  the  Newmarket  First  October  Meeting,  when 
he  was  sent  to  the  post  for  the  Boscawen  Stakes.  The  best 
of  his  opponents  appeared  to  be  Vulpio,  a  good  winner  in 
the  early  spring,  and  it  having  been  rumoured  that  Diamond 
Jubilee  had  mended  his  manners,  he  was  once  more  en- 
trusted with  good  money,  and  was  in  fact  an  even -money 
chance  in  a  field  of  five.  This  time  (his  fourth  race  in 
public)  he  gave  a  much  better  display,  but  he  only  got 
home  after  a  hard  fight  with  Paigle,  and  many  were  inclined 
to  decry  the  form  because  Paigle  had  run  him  to  a  head. 
In  this  they  were  quite  wrong,  for  Paigle  was  decidedly 
smart  at  the  time,  as  was  proved  by  the  fact  that,  three 
weeks  later,  she  very  easily  won  the  Great  Sapling  Plate 
at  Sandown,  giving  a  lot  of  weight  away  to  Lady  Min, 
Strongbow,  and  others,  while  Longy,  who  met  her  on  weight- 


104  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

for-sex  terms,  could  not  even  secure  a  place.  Indeed  this 
running  of  Paigle  showed  Diamond  Jubilee  in  a  vastly 
improved  light,  and  he  finished  up  the  season  with  a  brace 
of  creditable  seconds  in  the  Middle  Park  and  Dewhurst 
Plates.  In  both  races  his  conqueror  was  the  American 
gelding  Democrat,  and  the  same  form,  as  regards  the  pair, 
was  shown  on  both  occasions.  The  two  races  made  it  as 
clear  as  noonday  that  Democrat  was  the  better  two-year- 
old,  and  he  retired  into  winter  quarters  the  acknowledged 
best  youngster  of  the  year. 

At  the  same  time  a  majority  of  the  critics  *  were  strongly 
of  opinion  that  Diamond  Jubilee  showed  greater  capability 
for  improvement  than  Democrat  did.  The  last-named,  a 
gelding,  was  more  set  and  furnished  than  the  Prince  of 
Wales'  colt,  but  he  had  been  set  and  furnished  when  he 
came  out  in  the  spring,  whereas  Diamond  Jubilee,  no  matter 
how  waywardly  he  had  behaved  in  any  particular  race,  had 
come  out  each  time  looking  a  bigger  and  grander  horse 
than  when  he  last  ran.  As  a  matter  of  course  Democrat 
was  the  winter  favourite  for  the  Derby,  but  in  the  early 
spring  the  name  of  Diamond  Jubilee  began  to  be  freely 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  classic  races,  and  it  was 
soon  an  open  secret  that  in  his  work  he  had  given  the 
greatest  satisfaction,  and  also  that  he  had  grown  into  a  very 
grand  horse. 

As  the  time  for  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  drew  nigh 
it  also  became  generally  known  that  Democrat  had  not 
pleased  his  trainer,  and  though  on  his  two-year-old  form 
he  held  an  even -money  chance  for  the  first  of  the  classic 
races,  the  American  gelding  had  no  good  word  from  the 
Newmarket  touts,  and,  to  dismiss  him  briefly,  he  was  not 
even  sent  to  the  post.  Neither  was  the  gossip  very  satis- 
factory concerning  Diamond  Jubilee.  The  old  stories  about 

*  By  critics  in  this  connection  I  mean  a  certain  band  of  men,  drawn  from 
every  section  of  the  racing  community,  whose  delight  it  is  to  spend  nearly  all  the 
racing  afternoons  at  Newmarket  in  the  Birdcage,  who  watch  the  cracks  of  the 
year  all  the  time  they  are  on  view,  and  who  are  quick  to  note  their  condition 
from  meeting  to  meeting,  seeing  at  once  improvement  or  retrogression,  and, 
naturally  enough,  forming  opinions  as  to  the  future  which  in  a  majority  of  cases 
turn  out  to  be  correct. 


EPSOM  105 

his  temper  were  revived,  and  about  a  fortnight  before  the 
race  it  became  known  that  the  horse  had  conceived  an 
invincible  dislike  to  Mornington  Cannon,  but  that  he  went 
kindly  enough  in  the  hands  of  Herbert  Jones,  a  light- 
weight attached  to  Marsh's  stable,  who  had  ridden  several 
winners  a  year  or  two  before,  and  who  is  a  son  of  the 
late  "  Jack "  Jones  of  Epsom,  in  life  a  well-known  trainer 
of  steeplechasers. 

It  seems  a  curious  thing  that  where  an  owner  has  first 
claim  upon  the  first  jockey  of  the  day,  he  should  have  to 
go  past  him  to  ride  a  "  Guineas  "  favourite,  but  the  decision 
to  put  up  Herbert  Jones  on  Diamond  Jubilee  instead  of 
Mornington  Cannon  was  undoubtedly  a  wise  one,  and 
Cannon  himself  was  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  colt  would 
run  better  in  the  hands  of  the  lad  who  rode  him  in  his 
work  than  if  he  took  the  mount.  In  all  probability  the 
questions  of  temper  and  jockeyship  had  an  influence  on 
the  market,  for  when  the  numbers  went  up  for  the  Two 
Thousand  Guineas  both  Elopement  (trained  at  Kingsclere 
and  a  good  two-year-old  winner)  and  Sailor  Lad  were 
preferred  to  the  Prince's  horse.  How  Sailor  Lad  came 
to  be  backed  at  such  a  price  I  never  could  make  out. 
He  had  run  only  once  as  a  two-year-old,  and  then  he 
finished  about  a  hundred  yards  behind  Democrat  and 
Diamond  Jubilee.  He  did  not  fill  the  eye  as  a  classic 
horse,  and  though  he  was  by  Ladas  out  of  Seabreeze,  the 
sire  had  made  no  particular  mark,  and  Seabreeze  had  never 
bred  anything  half  so  good  as  herself.  In  the  race  Sailor 
Lad  finished  in  his  old  place  "down  the  course,"  but 
Diamond  Jubilee  came  right  through  and  won  just  as 
easily  as  Flying  Fox  had  done  a  year  before,  and  neither 
in  the  paddock,  nor  at  the  post,  nor  while  running,  did 
he  show  a  vestige  of  temper.  He  "slaughtered  "his  field 
in  great  style,  and  so  smooth  was  the  performance  that 
he  at  once  became  a  great  favourite  for  the  Derby,  giving 
Forfarshire  the  go-by  in  the  betting. 

Between  the  two  races  the  Newmarket  Stakes  intervened, 
and  as  the  prize  was  a  valuable  one  Diamond  Jubilee 
was  pulled  out  again,  and  was  this  time  opposed  by 


106  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

Alvescot,  winner  of  the  Hastings  Plate  at  Newmarket,  and 
Chevening,  winner  of  the  Queen's  Prize  at  the  Kempton 
Easter  fixture.  Jones  again  rode  the  Prince's  colt,  who  car- 
ried odds  of  2  to  I  on,  and  the  public  were  greatly  surprised 
when  Chevening  and  Diamond  Jubilee  ran  home  locked 
together,  the  last-named  only  winning  by  a  head,  after 
putting  in  all  he  knew  to  avert  defeat.  «At  first  it  seemed 
as  if  Diamond  Jubilee's  Two  Thousand  victory  had  been 
overrated,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Egerton  House 
stable  were  only  too  pleased  that  their  horse  had  won, 
and  if  the  public  had  known  what  had  taken  place  during 
the  forenoon  they  would  certainly  never  have  laid  odds 
in  the  fashion  they  did. 

It  appears  that  when  the  Egerton  House  team  were  at 
their  usual  exercise  that  morning,  the  horses  walking  round 
in  a  circle,  Diamond  Jubilee  suddenly  reared  up  several 
times,  and  finally  fell  backwards  to  the  ground,  rolling  over 
with  Jones  underneath.  Luckily  Marsh  was  near  enough 
to  catch  the  horse's  rein  as  he  rose,  and  thus  he  did  not 
get  away  loose.  Luckily  also  neither  horse  nor  jockey 
was  hurt,  but  shortly  afterwards  Diamond  Jubilee  began 
to  tremble  and  sweat,  and  such  a  condition  was  he  in 
soon  after  the  occurrence  that  his  attendants  were  hardly 
able  to  get  him  dry  before  it  was  time  to  take  him  to 
the  course.  No  doubt  he  had  suffered  from  fright  of 
some  sort,  and  when  I  saw  him  in  the  Birdcage  some 
hours  later  his  coat  was  still  half  standing  up,  and  with 
none  of  the  bloom  it  had  borne  on  the  Two  Thousand 
day.  It  was  commonly  reported  afterwards  that  Diamond 
Jubilee  had  caught  sight  of  Morny  Cannon,  who  had  gone 
down  to  ride  a  gallop  on  one  of  Marsh's  string,  before 
he  began  to  play  the  fool,  but  I  understand  that  the  famous 
jockey  was  never  very  near  the  horse,  and  I  can  only  say 
that  if  the  sight  of  Cannon  was  the  real  cause  of  the 
contretemps,  then  horses  have  far  quicker  sight  and  greater 
sensitiveness  than  is  generally  supposed.  What  is  really 
clear  is  that  Diamond  Jubilee  was  not  himself,  and  it  is 
wonderful  that  he  escaped  defeat  after  passing  such  a 
morning.  The  exceedingly  clever  riding  of  Chevening  by 


EPSOM  107 

Sloan  very  materially  contributed  to  the  closeness  of  the 
race. 

Before  treating  of  the  Derby  I  should  say  that  Diamond 
Jubilee  had  never  met  Forfarshire  as  a  two-year-old,  but  the 
last-named,  an  upstanding  chestnut  colt  by  Royal  Hampton 
out  of  St.  Elizabeth  by  St.  Simon,  had  put  on  a  capital  sequence 
of  victories  in  his  first  season,  and,  having  cleverly  defeated 
Democrat  at  Kempton  only  a  week  before  the  decision 
of  the  Middle  Park  Plate,  had,  on  the  book,  considerably 
the  best  of  Diamond  Jubilee.  During  the  winter  Democrat 
and  Forfarshire  had  disputed  Derby  favouritism,  but  the 
last-named  was  not  entered  for  the  Guineas  or  Newmarket 
Stakes,  and  his  one  performance  of  the  spring  had  not  given 
general  satisfaction.  This  was  in  the  Brinkley  Plate  against 
a  solitary  opponent  named  Ardmore,  and  though  Forfarshire 
won  he  did  his  work  in  rather  slovenly  fashion,  and  was  not 
greatly  liked  when  looked  over  in  the  paddock.  His  trainer, 
however,  was  confident,  and  when  the  flag  went  up  for  the 
Derby  6  to  4  was  offered  against  Diamond  Jubilee  and 
100  to  30  against  Forfarshire.  Both  were  in  the  van  at 
Tattenham  Corner,  where  Disguise  II.,  ridden  by  Sloan, 
came  slap  at  the  pair  from  behind,  forcing  them  apart. 
Forfarshire  immediately  dropped  out,  but  Diamond  Jubilee, 
who  only  received  what  I  may  call  the  reversion  of  the 
shock,  went  on,  and  won  by  half  a  length  from  Simon  Dale, 
who  came  with  a  great  rush  on  the  outside,  and  for  a 
moment  looked  like  snatching  the  race  out  of  the  fire. 

As  it  was  Diamond  Jubilee  won  cleverly,  if  not  easily. 
He  was  ably  handled  by  Herbert  Jones,  who  thus,  by  a 
curious  freak  of  fortune,  found  himself  at  the  summit  of 
a  jockey's  ambition  merely  because  a  certain  horse  would 
not  go  kindly  for  the  first  jockey  of  Marsh's  stable,  whilst 
he  took  kindly  to  himself. 

What  would  have  occurred  had  Forfarshire  not  been  can- 
noned against  it  is  impossible  to  say.  What  did  occur  was 
that  the  second  favourite  was  struck  violently  on  the  hock, 
and  also  on  the  hip,  and  when  he  reached  the  paddock  he  was 
dead  lame,  the  round  bone  being  then  the  principal  cause 
of  trouble,  probably  owing  to  the  injuries  to  hip  and  hock. 


108  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

For  six  weeks  afterwards  the  horse  was  never  out  of  his 
stable.  Sloan  was  called  before  the  stewards  and  cautioned 
for  his  reckless  riding,  but  in  my  opinion  he  got  off  far 
too  lightly,  for  he  ruined  the  chance  of  a  Derby  second 
favourite  who  was  going  well  at  the  time,  and  possibly 
altered  the  result  of  the  race.  I  believe  the  American 
jockey  admitted  that  he  lost  his  head  for  the  moment, 
but  unless  it  was  known  that  Disguise  II.  was  an  awkward 
beast  to  ride  and  a  hard  puller — and  I  never  heard  tnis  even 
suggested — a  reference  to  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club 
followed  by  a  suspension  and  a  ^500  fine  would  not  have 
been  too  great  a  punishment. 

Diamond  Jubilee  was  not  sent  to  Ascot,  but  he  failed 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Flying  Fox  and  win  the 
Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  at  Newmarket.  There  was,  how- 
ever, little  disgrace  in  his  defeat,  as  he  was  asked  to  give 
2olbs.  to  Merry  Gal,  who  ran  second  to  La  Roche  in  the 
Oaks,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  unable  to  accomplish  this 
performance  merely  suggests  that  he  is  not  exactly  a  great 
horse.  A  fortnight  later,  however,  he  wiped  out  his  New- 
market defeat  by  a  clever  win  in  the  Eclipse  Stakes,  and  as 
he  this  time  gave  Chevening  10  Ibs.  and  a  half-length 
beating,  it  was  clearly  established  how  wrong  the  running 
had  been  when  Chevening  got  to  the  head  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales'  colt  at  level  weights  in  the  Newmarket  Stakes. 
The  opposition  to  Diamond  Jubilee  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes 
was  not  very  strong,  but  the  horse  ran  his  race  out  boldly 
enough  in  Herbert  Jones'  hands,  and  though  Chevening 
was  catching  him  at  the  finish  the  fact  remains  that  the  one 
who  was  giving  the  weight  won  cleverly.  I  was  much 
surprised  after  the  race  was  over  at  hearing  opinions 
expressed  to  the  effect  that  Diamond  Jubilee  was  as  good 
as  Flying  Fox,  and  more  especially  surprised  when  I  found 
that  Marsh  and  Huggins  were  amongst  those  who  held  this 
belief.  Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  make  a  fair  comparison 
between  horses  that  have  never  met,  but  I  must  say  that, 
judged  through  Caiman  and  Scintillant,  Flying  Fox  has 
much  the  best  of  what  collateral  line  of  form  there  is, 
and  Flying  Fox  must  certainly  be  judged  on  his  three-year- 


S     d 

O     a 


EPSOM  109 

old  and  not  on  his  two-year-old  form.  In  my  opinion  the 
style  of  the  Kingsclere  celebrity  was  vastly  superior  to  that 
of  Diamond  Jubilee.  The  last-named  had  no  great  amount 
in  hand,  either  in  the  Newmarket  Stakes,  Derby,  or  Eclipse 
Stakes,  whereas  as  a  three-year-old  Flying  Fox  cut  down  all 
opposition,  no  matter  whether  from  those  of  his  own  age 
or  from  older  horses,  in  most  summary  fashion,  and  won 
each  of  his  races  with  a  "ton"  in  hand.  The  St.  Leger 
was  an  easy  affair  for  Diamond  Jubilee,  but  a  month  later 
he  failed  to  secure  a  place  in  the  Jockey  Club  Stakes,  won 
by  Disguise  II.,  with  Jolly  Tar  and  Forfarshire  second  and 
third.  It  should  be  added  that  the  Prince's  colt  was  giving 
12  Ibs.  to  Disguise  II.,  9  Ibs.  to  the  four-year-old  Jolly  Tar, 
and  6  Ibs.  to  Forfarshire ;  but  he  ran  much  below  his  form, 
and  was  clean  out  of  the  race  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  home. 
One  of  the  greatest  causes  of  the  popularity  of  Epsom 
is  the  situation  of  the  course,  the  physical  conformation  of 
which  allows  of  the  racing  being  seen  by  an  enormous  crowd. 
The  same  remark  applies  to  Goodwood,  but,  as  previously 
stated,  Goodwood  is  situated  in  a  thinly  populated  neigh- 
bourhood, whereas  the  Epsom  Course  is  only  a  trifle  over 
seventeen  miles  from  town,  and  therefore  within  driving 
distance.  The  Sandown  Course  is  also  on  a  slope,  from 
which  an  unrivalled  view  of  the  racing  can  be  obtained, 
but  at  Sandown  the  charge  for  admittance  is  never  less 
than  half  a  crown,  and  therefore  the  "outside"  crowd  is 
never  very  large.  The  Epsom  stands  are  on  a  hillside,  and 
the  course  lies  below  it,  the  rings  always  sloping  downwards 
to  the  running  track.  Immediately  beyond  the  rails, 
opposite  the  stands,  the  ground  is  level  for  some  little 
distance,  and  this  allows  of  room  for  coaches,  carriages, 
and  thousands  of  foot -people.  Below  this  plateau  there 
is  a  small  valley,  and  beyond  the  ground  rises  abruptly, 
the  greater  part  of  the  inside  of  the  Derby  Course  forming 
what  is  known  as  "  the  hill,"  which  in  the  race  weeks  is 
covered  with  tents  and  an  enormous  crowd.  Hereabouts 
all  the  late-coming  coaches,  which  cannot  obtain  a  place 
on  the  rails,  nine-tenths  of  the  "garden  seat"  buses,  and 
a  heterogeneous  mass  of  vehicles  are  drawn  up,  and  some- 


110  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

thing  is  to  be  seen  of  the  racing,  though  when  the  Derby 
is  being  run  the  course  is  lined  with  people  all  the  way 
round,  and  little  can  be  seen  from  the  hill  except  the 
caps  and  jackets  of  the  jockeys.  On  the  hill  all  the  "fun 
of  the  fair  "  is  to  be  found,  and  many  of  the  annual  visitors 
to  the  Derby  and  Oaks  never  dream  of  seeking  any  other 
place,  but  contentedly  pass  their  days  on  the  hill,  where 
unlimited  refreshment  is  procurable,  and  where  there  are 
all  sorts  of  attractions  in  addition  to  the  racing.  Frith's 
"  Derby  Day,"  painted  nearly  forty  years  ago,  depicts  the  sort 
of  scene  that  may  be  found  a  dozen  times  in  an  afternoon 
even  now,  for,  allowing  for  the  changes  in  fashion,  much  the 
same  state  of  affairs  prevails  at  the  present  day,  though 
the  management  has  put  a  stop  to  some  of  the  noisier 
attractions,  such  as  steam  roundabouts  —  not  known  in 
Frith's  day.  The  gipsies,  negro  minstrels,  itinerant  musicians 
of  every  sort,  the  fourth-rate  burlesque  professional  boxers, 
the  workers  in  brass  wire,  vendors  of  fruit  and  gingerbeer, 
and  the  huge  crowd  of  tipsters  are  all  in  evidence  on  the 
Epsom  Hill,  and  though  Ascot  knows  them  well  too,  Epsom 
is  their  happiest  hunting  ground,  and  there  they  are  seen 
in  far  greater  numbers  than  elsewhere.  What  these  gentry 
do  at  other  times  is  a  mystery.  Fifty  years  ago,  or  less,  their 
ancestors  followed  the  meetings,  but  nowadays  nineteen  out 
of  every  twenty  meetings  are  on  the  enclosed  system,  and 
most  certainly  the  enclosure  knows  not  this  lowest  form  of 
Turf  follower,  except  occasionally  at  a  bank  holiday  fixture. 
The  latter-day  policeman,  too,  is  quickly  down  on  anything 
which  is  not  permitted  by  law.  He  never  attempts  perhaps 
to  stop  the  begging,  but  he  is  ruthless  enough  when  he  finds 
the  three -card  trick  being  performed,  and  I  have  seen  him 
stop  an  enterprising  gentleman  who  was  selling  purses  for 
a  shilling,  in  each  of  which  he  had  apparently  placed  two 
half-crowns. 

Epsom  is  a  national  carnival,  and  the  hill  is  the  chosen 
spot  for  those  to  whom  the  racing  is  a  secondary  matter. 
They  go  for  the  day's  outing,  with  a  determination  to  have  as 
much  fun  for  their  money  as  is  possible.  The  racing  people 
proper  divide  their  time  between  the  stands  and  the  paddock, 


EPSOM  111 

and  perhaps  the  greatest  drawback  to  Epsom  is  that  the 
paddock  is  so  far  away  from  the  stands.  The  actual  distance 
must  be  three  hundred  yards,  perhaps  a  little  more,  but  at 
race  times  the  journey  seems  four  times  the  length  because 
of  the  crowded  state  of  the  route.  One  has  either  to  go 
along  the  course,  over  which  thousands  of  people  surge  after 
every  race,  or  to  the  back  of  the  stands,  where  the  road  is 
less  crowded.  In  any  circumstances  it  is  not  a  pleasant  walk, 
and  if  one  "  does  "  the  paddock  properly  before  each  race  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  be  back  in  time  to  see  the  horses 
canter  to  the  post.  Once  reached,  the  paddock  is  pleasant 
enough,  but  very  large,  and  as  the  horses  are  scattered  about 
in  all  parts  of  it,  a  lot  of  exercise  is  brought  into  the  day's 
work.  Another  nuisance  caused  by  the  paddock  being 
where  it  is  is  that  the  jockeys,  after  they  are  weighed  out, 
have  to  worm  their  way  through  the  crowd  in  order  to  find 
their  mounts,  with  the  result  that  racing  at  Epsom  is  almost 
invariably  late,  the  last  race  being  sometimes  decided  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  after  the  advertised  time. 

The  stands  at  Epsom  are  old-fashioned  but  good,  and 
probably  larger  than  any  others  in  the  kingdom,  unless  it  be 
those  at  Doncaster.  From  the  roof  of  the  principal  building 
there  is  a  magnificent  view  over  the  Surrey  hills,  and  in 
more  circumscribed  fashion  this  view  is  obtainable  from  all 
the  rising  ground  on  the  course.  The  tiers  of  boxes  are  a 
feature  of  the  Epsom  stands,  and  these  are  very  necessary 
because  the  club  enclosure  is  small,  and  ladies  are  not 
admitted.  The  club  system  had  not  come  into  vogue 
when  the  present  stands  and  rings  were  laid  out,  and  no 
space  was  available  for  a  lawn :  even  now,  with  men  only 
admitted,  the  club  enclosure  is  far  too  small,  and  a  similar 
remark  applies  to  the  rings,  where  the  crowding  and  squeez- 
ing is  simply  awful  in  the  Derby  week.  A  portion  of  the  club 
enclosure  is  reserved  for  the  members  of  the  Jockey  Club, 
and  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  this  stand  and  the 
club  enclosure  should  both  be  a  considerable  distance  below 
the  winning-post,  so  that  in  a  very  close  finish  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  those  occupying  them  to  know  what  has 
actually  won  until  the  numbers  go  up.  Opposite  the  win- 


112  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

ning-post,  in  by  far  the  best  position,  is  the  enclosure  known 
as  "  Barnard's  Stand,"  the  charge  for  admission  to  which  on 
ordinary  days  is  six  shillings,  and  I  have  often  thought 
that  if  the  Epsom  executive  could  obtain  this  space,  they 
could,  to  a  certain  extent,  remodel  the  present  arrangements 
and  give  more  room  to  the  rings,  the  Club  Stand,  and  the 
weighing-room  enclosure,  which  latter  place  is  ridiculously 
small  and  inconvenient.  What  vested  interests  there  may 
be  in  Barnard's  Stand,  or  whether  it  would  be  possible  to 
close  the  passage  between  the  last-named  place  and  the 
weighing-room  enclosure  (which  appears  to  be  a  right  of 
way),  I  do  not  know,  but  two  things  are  quite  certain,  viz. 
that  the  enclosures  are  far  too  small,  and  that  the  meeting 
is  one  of  the  richest  in  the  kingdom.  Moreover,  Barnard's 
Stand  is  much  the  least  liberally  patronised  of  any  of  the 
Epsom  enclosures :  the  crowd  is  never  very  large  there,  and 
even  on  Derby  day  it  is  far  thinner  than  in  "  Tattersall's  "  or 
the  Grand  Stand  enclosures. 

The  Epsom  Course  is  on  down  land,  and  if  the  weather 
has  been  favourable  it  affords  capital  going.  In  times  of 
drought  it  becomes  very  dry  and  hard,  and  there  is  no 
supply  of  water  available  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  At 
the  same  time,  no  pains  are  spared  to  make  the  surface 
of  the  track  as  good  as  possible,  and  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  the  crowd  is  allowed  to  wander  all  over  it  between 
the  races,  it  would  remain  good  to  the  end  of  the  week. 
As  it  is,  it  becomes  terribly  worn  and  dry  in  fine  weather, 
or  a  sea  of  mud  should  there  chance  to  be  rain  during  the 
meeting.  The  subject  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  the 
description  of  Ascot,  and  the  remarks  which  I  made  there 
are  even  more  applicable  to  Epsom.  About  the  course 
itself  much  has  been  written,  and  many  opinions  have  been 
given.  Perhaps  more  abuse  has  been  showered  on  Epsom 
than  on  any  other  meeting,  but,  for  all  that,  the  Derby 
Course  of  one  mile  and  a  half  is  a  great  test  of  merit, 
proof  of  which  is  afforded  by  the  fact — emphasised  a  few 
pages  back — that  the  best  horse  nearly  always  wins,  and 
that  as  a  very  general  rule  the  form  is  confirmed  at  Ascot. 
A  steep  descent  in  a  racecourse  is  very  uncommon,  and 


EPSOM  113 

therefore  not  exactly  popular,  but  horses  ought  to  run  over 
all  sorts  of  courses,  and  as  the  Two  Thousand  and  St.  Leger 
are  decided  on  ground  that  is  almost  flat  (especially  when 
compared  with  Epsom),  I  think  it  all  for  the  best  that  the 
Derby  and  Oaks  are  run  on  such  an  up-and-down  course. 
The  turn  at  Tattenham  Corner  is  certainly  rather  abrupt 
— too  abrupt  to  be  free  from  danger,  indeed — and  the  run- 
in  is  not  a  particularly  long  one  ;  nevertheless,  the  horses 
which  take  part  in  the  Derby  seldom  run  wide,  and  though 
accidents  at  Tattenham  Corner  are  not  unknown  in  connec- 
tion with  the  chief  race  of  the  year,  they  very  seldom  occur, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  jockeys  all  try  to  get  places 
as  near  the  inside  as  possible.  The  Derby  Course  in  use 
at  the  present  time  measures  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  is 
shaped  after  the  form  of  a  horseshoe.  The  start  takes 
place  at  what  is  called  the  High  Level  starting-post  (into  the 
"forties"  it  used  to  run  behind  Sherwood's  house),  which 
is  about  half  a  mile  from  the  stands,  on  the  opposite  hill, 
and  some  few  hundred  yards  below  the  gate  into  Sher- 
wood's training  stables.  For  the  first  half-mile  the  ground 
is  on  the  ascent,  but  it  becomes  more  level  where  the  New 
Course  joins  the  old  one  close  to  the  well-known  landmark 
called  the  Furzes.  Hereabouts  the  line  bears  slightly  to 
the  left,  and  then  comes  the  long  hill  down  to  Tattenham 
Corner,  perhaps  the  steepest  hill  to  be  found  on  any  race- 
course except  that  of  Brighton.  Down  the  hill  the  horses 
are  gradually  turning  left-handed,  and  at  Tattenham  Corner,  a 
short  half-mile  from  home,  they  sweep  into  the  straight,  up 
the  last  three  furlongs  of  which  there  is  a  very  gentle  rise  to 
the  winning-post.  Good  shoulders  are  generally  considered 
most  necessary  for  a  favourable  show  on  the  Derby  Course, 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  many  horses  thought  to  be  too  straight 
in  the  shoulder  have  accomplished  the  descent  in  faultless 
fashion,  whereas  many  of  the  "just  the  sort  for  Epsom," 
and  "  made  for  the  course,"  have  failed.  There  seems  to 
be  no  sort  of  reason  why  a  horse  which  is  on  the  leg  should 
not  win  the  Derby,  if  he  is  truly  made  in  other  respects, 
and  to  quote  recent  examples  I  need  go  no  further  back 
than  Jeddah,  Persimmon,  Isinglass,  and  Common,  of  whom 
i 


114  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Common  stood  16  hands  2  inches,  Isinglass  16  hands  i  inch, 
while  Persimmon  and  Jeddah  are  probably  well  up  to  16 
hands  i  inch,  though  I  have  never  heard  their  exact  height 
stated. 

Races  of  a  mile  and  two  furlongs — the  City  and  Suburban 
to  wit — and  races  of  a  mile  are  run  on  the  Derby  (called 
the  Old)  Course,  and  races  of  five,  six,  and  seven  furlongs, 
and  of  a  mile,  on  the  New  Course,  which  runs  into  the  Old 
Course  at  Tattenham  Corner.     Of  this  New  Course  the  last 
five  furlongs — known  as   the   Egmont  Course — are   almost 
straight,  but  for  six  furlongs  and  over  the  horses  are  started 
out  of  sight  of  the  stands,  and  the  first  portion  is  slightly 
on  the  turn.     There  is  a  sharp  descent  in  the  early  part  of 
this  course,  but  not  so  steep  as  the  run  down  to  Tattenham 
Corner  on  the  Old   Course.     Still,  a  quick  beginning  and 
a  nice  turn  of  speed  count  more  in  a  five-furlong  race  at 
Epsom    than    they   do   at  such   places    as    Newmarket    or 
Sandown,  and  year  after  year  we  see  horses  winning  the 
sprint   races   at  Epsom   who   never  win   elsewhere,  except 
sometimes  at  Brighton,  where  the  course  is  very  similarly 
constituted.     For  some  years  there  has  been  no  longer  race 
at  the  Epsom  Summer  Meeting  than  the  Derby,  but  at  the 
Spring  Meeting  a  course  of  two  miles  and  a  quarter  is  used 
for  the  Great  Metropolitan,  and  this  affords  one  of  the  prettiest 
contests  of  the  year.     The  start  takes  place  exactly  opposite 
the  stands,  and  as  in  the  Goodwood  Stakes  and  Cup,  the 
horses  run  down  the  course  at  first ;  they  approach  Tatten- 
ham Corner  in  a  direction  the  reverse  of  that  which  is  taken 
by  the  Derby  horses,  but  turn  rather  sharply  to  the  right 
a  few  yards  short  of  the   corner,  and   leaving   the  Derby 
Course  wind  up  the  hill,  inside  the  horseshoe,  joining  the 
Derby  Course  close  to  the  start  for  the  Mile  Course,  which 
they  then  follow  to  the  winning-post.     There  are  naturally 
several  turns  in  this  course,  but  they  are  all  easy  ones,  and 
in  a  race  of  two  miles  and  a  quarter  a  few  turns  are  of  no  con- 
sequence, the  pace  never  being  very  good  as  a  general  rule. 
All  the  way  the  Metropolitan  runners  are  in  full  view,  and 
perhaps  in  days  to  come  the  course  will  be  more  frequently 
used,  but  it  is  not  always  in  the  best  condition. 


EPSOM  115 

The  Epsom  programmes,  though  somewhat  mixed,  and 
with  sprint  running  somewhat  in  the  ascendant,  are  very 
popular  with  all  ranks  of  racing  men,  and  large  fields  are 
the  rule  rather  than  the  exception.  At  present  only  two 
meetings  are  held  each  year,  one  in  April  and  one  at  the 
end  of  May  or  beginning  of  June.  There  used  to  be  an 
autumn  fixture,  but  it  has  not  been  held  for  many  years, 
the  London  and  Brighton  Railway  withdrawing  the  pecuniary 
support  it  was  in  the  habit  of  according.  Seven  races  a  day 
is  the  number  usually  decided.  Handicaps  are  the  chief 
feature  of  the  Epsom  Spring  Meeting,  the  Great  Metro- 
politan of  two  and  a  quarter  miles  on  the  first  day,  and  the 
City  and  Suburban  of  one  and  a  quarter  miles  on  the  second 
day,  being  the  most  popular  items  of  the  racing.  Indeed 
the  "  City,"  with  the  exception  of  the  Jubilee  Stakes,  is  the 
most  popular  of  all  the  Spring  Handicaps,  and  its  decision 
invariably  draws  a  huge  crowd.  The  minor  races  at  this 
meeting  are  of  passing  interest  only,  and  notably  the  two- 
year-old  events  seldom  bring  about  the  debut  of  anything 
likely  to  make  a  great  name  in  the  future. 

The  programme  of  the  Summer  Meeting  is  much  more 
ambitious,  nor  does  it  depend  solely  on  the  Derby  and  Oaks, 
for  there  are  important  races  on  each  of  the  other  days, 
and  in  1897  the  Epsom  Cup — weight-for-age,  a  mile  and  a 
half — was  reinstituted.  Taking  1900  as  an  average  year, 
I  find  that  twenty-five  races  were  run,  the  total  value  of 
which  to  the  winners  was  £17,702  (I  have  taken  no  account 
of  prizes  for  second  and  third  horses,  which  in  the  cases 
of  the  Derby  and  Oaks  are  very  considerable),  and  that 
these  races  were  contested  by  231  horses,  or  an  average 
of  between  nine  and  ten  runners  to  each  race.  The  Derby 
and  Oaks  were  respectively  of  the  value  of  ,£5,450  and 
£4,550  to  the  winners,  while  the  Royal  Stakes  was  worth 
£900,  the  Epsom  Cup  £820,  and  the  Durdans  Plate  £935. 
The  longest  race  was  a  mile  and  a  half,  the  Derby,  Oaks, 
Epsom  Cup,  and  Norbury  Plate  being  decided  at  that 
distance.  There  was  also  one  race  (the  Durdans  Plate) 
of  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  three  races  of  a  mile,  two  of  seven 
furlongs,  five  of  six  furlongs,  and  ten  of  five  furlongs,  so 


116  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

that  sprint  racing  predominated  during  the  four  days  of  the 
meeting. 

Two-year-old  racing  is  one  of  the  features  of  the  Epsom 
Summer  Meeting,  and  the  Woodcote  Stakes  (on  the 
Tuesday)  is  the  first  race  of  the  year  in  which  the 
youngsters  run  six  furlongs.  The  Woodcote  is  considered 
to  be  a  genuine  test  of  merit,  and  though  its  bead-roll 
of  winners  will  not  compare  with  those  of  such  events  as 
the  Middle  Park  and  Dewhurst  Plates,  or  the  Champagne 
Stakes  at  Doncaster,  it  is  often  won  by  a  good  horse,  and 
Ladas  and  Cremorne  may  be  quoted  as  Derby  winners  who 
made  their  debut  in  this  race.  Another  notable  two-year-old 
prize  is  the  Great  Surrey  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  decided  on 
the  Thursday,  and  the  Stanley  Stakes  and  Acorn  Stakes, 
the  latter  for  fillies  only,  are  conspicuous  features  of  the 
programme.  Much  the  most  popular  of  the  Epsom  Handi- 
caps is  the  City  and  Suburban,  run  on  the  second  day  of 
the  Spring  Meeting,  and  this  race  shares  with  the  Jubilee 
Stakes  at  Kempton  the  suffrages  of  the  best  handicap 
nags  in  training  during  the  spring.  The  City  and  Suburban 
is  quite  one  of  the  first  half-dozen  handicaps  of  the  season — 
I  place  the  Caesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire  first  in  im- 
portance, and  next  to  them  the  Kempton  Jubilee  Stakes, 
the  City  and  Suburban,  the  Royal  Hunt  Cup  at  Ascot, 
and  the  Stewards'  Cup  at  Goodwood — and  it  is  very  often 
won  by  a  really  good  horse.  In  1876  Thunder,  owned 
by  the  late  Mr.  Clare  Vyner,  won  with  9  st.  4  Ibs.  in  the 
saddle,  and  four  years  later  Master  Kildare,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  stud  by  siring  the  Derby  winner 
Melton,  carried  9  st.  2  Ibs.  into  first  place.  In  the  following 
year  Bend  Or,  who  had  won  the  Derby  a  year  before, 
carried  9  st.  to  victory,  and  a  more  recent  good  performance 
was  that  of  Worcester,  who  won  in  a  canter  with  8  st.  12  Ibs. 
up.  It  is  often  said  that  the  course,  on  account  of  its 
ups  and  downs,  is  one  on  which  roguish  horses  figure  to 
advantage,  and  a  notorious  rogue  who  won  the  race  in 
1872  was  Digby  Grand.  Another  of  the  same  kidney  was 
King  Charles,  who  won  in  1893,  and  no  doubt  bad-tempered 
horses  are  more  likely  to  win  here  than  at  such  places  as 


EPSOM  117 

Newmarket,  where  they  have  an  endless  perspective  of 
heath  before  them  from  the  moment  the  race  begins.  The 
Metropolitan  unfortunately  does  not  attract  the  sort  it 
should.  It  has  been  won  by  such  good  horses  as  Dutch 
Skater,  Hampton,  and  Chippendale,  and  by  many  honest 
stayers  of  the  second  class ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  often 
fallen  to  very  indifferent  ones,  and  class  was  poorly  re- 
presented when  such  as  Fatherless  and  Cornbury  won. 

Epsom,  though  it  provides  such  good  racing,  is  not 
exactly  a  model  meeting.  The  time  kept  there  is  the 
worst  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  crowding  is  greater  than 
anywhere  else.  Nor  is  the  place  conveniently  situated  as 
regards  coming  and  going.  At  the  time  of  writing  the 
Downs  Station  is  the  nearest  point  to  which  one  can  take 
train,  and  between  this  and  the  stands  there  is  a  walk  of 
a  mile  over  rough  down  land,  in  which  the  putting  greens 
of  the  Epsom  Golf  Club  form  oases.  Cabs  ply,  but  in  dry 
weather  the  journey  by  road  is  a  very  dusty  one,  whilst 
should  it  happen  to  be  raining  a  ridiculous  fare  is  demanded. 
The  L.  B.  and  S.  C.  put  up  the  return  fare  for  the  specials — 
and  they  are  all  specials  after  a  certain  hour  in  the  morning 
— to  eight  shillings,  and  no  class  of  carriage  is  guaranteed, 
so  that  the  chances  are  that  one  travels  in  a  third-class 
carriage  with  a  first-class  ticket.  There  is  another  route 
by  rail,  viz.  from  Waterloo  to  the  Epsom  Town  Station, 
the  walk  from  which  to  the  stands  is  considerably  further, 
uphill  the  greater  part  of  the  way,  very  dusty  in  dry 
seasons,  and  very  much  more  crowded  with  pedestrians. 
By  this  line  the  return  fare  for  the  specials  is  raised  to 
seven  shillings  and  sixpence,  and,  regardless  of  the  extra 
distance,  the  cab  fare  to  the  course  is  about  the  same  as 
from  the  Downs.  It  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  leave  Victoria 
on  the  big  days  at  about  I  p.m.  One  will  miss  the  first 
race,  but  the  thickest  of  the  crowd  is  also  missed,  and  the 
chances  are  that  the  journey  will  be  pleasanter  in  every  way. 
The  service  of  specials  on  each  of  the  lines,  both  for  the 
Epsom  Spring  and  Summer  Meetings,  is  wonderfully  good. 
The  trains  are  filled  and  despatched  as  quickly  as  possible, 
and  very  rarely  is  there  any  delay  on  the  road.  On  the 


118  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Derby  and  Oaks  days  return  trains  begin  to  run  very  soon 
after  the  decision  of  those  races,  and  it  is  quite  possible 
to  see  the  Derby  and  be  in  town  again  before  half-past 
four.  A  new  line  to  the  course,  with  a  station  adjoining 
Tattenham  Corner,  has  been  constructed.  It  is  on  the 
South-Eastern  system,  and  though  the  journey  is  much 
longer  than  the  other  routes,  a  lower  fare  will  cause  it  to 
be  used,  and  this  seems  to  be  the  only  means  by  which 
the  extortion  that  has  so  long  been  practised  can  be 
checked.  The  ordinary  first-class  return  fare  by  the  two 
lines  now  serving  Epsom  is  three  shillings,  and  whilst  the 
service  of  special  trains  is  running  the  two  companies  will 
not  issue  an  ordinary  ticket  to  anyone,  be  it  a  case  of  life 
or  death.  The  poorest  person,  wishing  to  get  to  a  dying 
relative,  would  have  to  pay  either  seven  shillings  and  six- 
pence or  eight  shillings. 

Driving  to  Epsom  is  nothing  like  so  fashionable  as  it  used 
to  be,  amongst  the  upper  classes  at  least.  The  holiday- 
makers,  who  want  a  long  day  out  of  doors,  avail  themselves 
of  the  brakes  and  omnibuses,  but  the  Downs  route  has 
knocked  out  all  the  posting.  Of  those  who  still  go  down 
by  road,  many  now  drive  by  way  of  Surbiton  and  Ewell 
Marsh,  or  by  Wimbledon  and  Worcester  Park,  and  they  are 
wise  who  do  this,  as  the  buses  have  quite  spoiled  the  old 
routes  from  a  driver's  point  of  view,  and  the  roads  indicated 
are  free  from  the  blocks  which  are  so  common  all  the  way 
from  Clapham  to  Sutton. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  YORKSHIRE  MEETINGS 


Yorkshire  as  a  home  of  racing — Old  Yorkshire  meetings — Durham  Races — Curious 
accident — Scarborough  Races— Raid  on  the  stands — Yorkshire  owners — Mai- 
ton  and  Middleham— Supply  of  horses — South-country  platers  at  Northern 
meetings — Lord  Durham  astonished — Doncaster  Races — Run  by  the  Corpor- 
ation— Appearance  of  course— St.  Leger  Course — Cup  Course— Spring  Meeting 
— Attendances  at  September  Meeting— Doncaster  crowd  compared  with  that 
of  Epsom — Cheap  transit  to  course — Too  much  Butter-scotch — Excursionists 
— Yorkshire  critics — Northern  opinion — Doncaster  programme — Distance  of 
races— Value  of  stakes— York  Races— Retrospective — "Cross  and  jostle" — 
Story  of  Archer  and  Snowden — Dates  of  meetings — August  fixture — Its  import- 
ance— Ebor  Handicap — Some  of  its  winners — Luncheon  to  huntsmen — John 
Osborne  chaffed — The  jockey  gets  the  best  of  it — Great  Yorkshire  Stakes — 
St.  Leger  winners  beaten  therein — Tom  Cannon's  riding  of  Ossory — The  Gim- 
crack  Stakes — Gimcrack's  defeats — Minor  Yorkshire  meetings — Stockton  and 
its  programme— Redcar  Races — A  capital  course — Proposal  to  alter  fixture 
list — Saltburn-on-the-Sea  and  Redcar  as  health  resorts — Pontefract — Beverley 
— Ripon— Catterick  Bridge — The  real  Goodwood  of  the  North. 

"\7ORKSHIRE  was  always  a  great  home  of  horse-racing, 
1  and  I  believe  that  at  Black  Hambleton,  a  few  miles 
north-east  of  Thirsk,  and  at  Kipling  Cotes,  near  Market 
Weighton,  there  were  races  several  hundred  years  ago. 
Hambleton  is  situated  on  moor  land,  or  rather  on  moor  edge, 
and  though  there  has  been  no  racing  there  for  generations, 
it  is  still  in  great  request  as  a  training  ground,  for  it  affords 
the  very  best  of  going,  even  in  times  of  drought.  What 
was  once  the  racecourse  at  Kipling  Cotes  is  now  a  sandy 
lane,  which  leads  from  Goodmanham  (one  mile  south-east 
of  Market  Weighton)  to  two  or  three  neighbouring  farms, 
but,  curiously  enough,  the  local  folk  race  over  it  still  (or  did 
until  very  recently)  with  a  Kipling  Cotes  Stake  of  £$ — 
under  what  rules  I  never  heard.  The  list  of  Yorkshire 

119 


120  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

meetings  which  have  ceased  to  exist  would  fill  a  page  of  this 
book.  Of  them  Northallerton,  Richmond,  Hedon  (near 
Hull),  Scarborough,  and  Malton  have  disappeared  from  the 
Calendar  within  the  last  twenty  years,  and  no  new  fixtures 
have  been  found  to  take  their  places.  At  the  present  time 
the  Yorkshire  meetings  are  fourteen  in  number,  viz.  Don- 
caster  (two),  York  (two),  Pontefract  (three),  Catterick,  Ripon, 
Thirsk  (two),  Redcar  (two),  and  Beverley,  the  fixtures  at 
York  and  Doncaster  being  much  the  most  important.  The 
Redcar  Summer  Meeting  has  a  somewhat  ambitious  pro- 
gramme, which  is  generally  productive  of  good  sport,  and 
Stockton  is  practically  a  Yorkshire  meeting,  though  the 
town  of  Stockton-on-Tees  is  really  in  the  neighbouring 
county  of  Durham.  The  course,  however,  lies  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  river,  and  if  the  meeting  has  its  head- 
quarters in  Durham,  Yorkshire  can  claim  the  course  on  the 
Mandale  Bottoms.  Doncaster  is  so  handy  for  Newmarket, 
since  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  extended  their  line  to  the 
town,  that  it  draws  equally  upon  Northern-  and  Southern- 
trained  horses,  even  at  its  Spring  Meeting.  The  September 
gathering  ranks  third  to  Ascot  and  Epsom  only,  and  horses 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  a  majority  of  the  prizes 
now  going  to  the  South.  York  Spring  Meeting  is  more 
local,  but  there  is  always  a  contingent  from  Newmarket, 
which  is  greatly  increased  at  the  summer  fixture.  In  the 
same  fashion  Redcar  is  local  as  regards  its  spring  fixture, 
but  more  cosmopolitan  at  the  August  Meeting.  Stockton 
draws  pretty  freely  on  the  Southern  stables,  but  Catterick, 
Thirsk,  Beverley,  and  Ripon  are  all  local  fixtures,  nine- 
tenths  of  the  horses  who  run  at  those  places  being 
trained  in  Yorkshire  and  other  Northern  counties.  Ponte- 
fract, on  the  other  hand,  is  fairly  well  supported  by 
Newmarket,  though  even  here  Northern  horses  are  in  the 
ascendant ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  Pontefract 
has  a  go-ahead  Corporation  with  plenty  of  life  in  it,  and 
that  the  town  lies  a  long  way  south  of  Ripon,  Thirsk, 
and  Redcar.  With  the  exception  of  Stockton,  the  county 
of  Durham  has  no  meeting  whatever.  Durham  itself  was 
the  last  place  in  the  county  at  which  racing  under  Jockey 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       121 

Club  Rules  was  held,  but  nearly  twenty  years  have  passed 
since  Durham  Races  disappeared  from  the  Calendar,  and  the 
course  was  so  dangerous  that  their  cessation  was  no  loss  to 
the  racing  community.  The  winning-post  was  some  three 
hundred  yards  below  the  stands,  and  much  of  the  inter- 
vening space  was  filled  with  tents,  shows,  steam  round- 
abouts, and  so  forth.  On  one  occasion,  not  long  before  the 
fixtures  ceased  to  exist,  three  horses  took  fright  at  a  steam 
whistle,  and  bolted  straight  at  a  high  masonry  wall  which 
separated  the  racecourse  from  the  gardens  behind  the  houses 
in  Old  Elvet.  One  of  the  three  horses  was  leading  by 
about  half  a  length ;  he  jumped  as  high  as  he  could,  struck 
the  wall  about  two  feet  below  the  top,  and  fell  into  the 
gardens  beyond.  Another  horse  fell  back  on  the  racecourse 
side  of  the  wall,  and  the  third  jumped  through  the  gap 
which  the  first  had  made,  trotting  through  into  the  street 
no  worse  for  the  contretemps.  All  three  jockeys  were 
dangerously  hurt,  and  at  least  one  of  the  horses  had  to  be 
destroyed.  The  turn  at  the  top  of  the  course  was  a  bad 
one,  and  I  well  remember  seeing  a  hard  puller  go  straight 
on  into  the  river  instead  of  rounding  the  turn.  So,  all 
things  considered,  it  was  just  as  well  that  Durham  Races 
came  to  an  end.  I  never  liked  the  Richmond  Course, 
though  it  was  the  scene  of  many  a  glorious  struggle  during 
the  middle  of  the  century,  when  better  horses  were  trained 
there  than  is  now  the  case.  Neither  was  Northallerton 
a  particularly  good  course,  and  Scarborough  was  nothing 
to  boast  of,  though  it  survived  much  longer  than  North- 
allerton or  Richmond.  The  place  was  famous  for  roughs, 
who  came  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  for  the  meeting, 
and  I  was  present  on  one  occasion  when  they  raided  the 
principal  enclosure.  The  attack  had  evidently  been  well 
organised,  for  at  a  signal  it  was  commenced  both  from  the 
course  and  the  back  of  the  stands.  The  turnstiles  were 
rushed  and  all  the  money  taken  up  to  that  time  secured, 
and  at  the  moment  the  attention  of  the  few  police  on  duty 
was  turned  to  the  back  of  the  buildings  dozens  of  ruffians 
climbed  over  the  rails  which  divided  the  course  from  the 
paddock.  Then  commenced  a  scene  of  ruffianism ;  book- 


122  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

makers  were  "  held  up "  where  they  stood  ready  to  com- 
mence operations  on  the  first  race,  watches  and  money  were 
stolen  on  all  sides,  and  for  some  ten  minutes  the  utmost 
lawlessness  prevailed.  Nor  was  it  possible  to  secure  an 
additional  supply  of  police  at  a  moment's  notice,  for  Scar- 
borough Racecourse  is  three  miles  from  the  town,  and  at  the 
top  of  a  very  steep  hill.  A  similar  scene  was  once  enacted 
at  Shrewsbury,  but  I  was  not  present,  whereas  I  watched  the 
Scarborough  raid  from  a  carriage  on  the  far  side  of  the 
course.  On  this  particular  occasion  a  very  popular  local 
magnate,  whom  the  roughs  would  not  touch,  carried  away 
some  ^7,000,  pressed  upon  him  for  safe  custody  by  book- 
makers and  others. 

I  have  stated  elsewhere  that  there  are  more  thorough- 
breds bred  in  Yorkshire  than  in  any  other  county,  and  on 
the  face  of  that  fact  there  ought  to  be  more  racing  in  the 
county  than  there  is.  But  of  late  years  there  has  been  such 
a  rush  to  Newmarket  that  a  majority  of  the  Yorkshire 
breeders,  who  put  into  training  the  youngsters  they  breed, 
send  them  out  of  the  district.  Many  Yorkshire  landowners 
there  are  who  race,  but  at  the  moment  I  can  mention  only 
Lord  Harewood  and  Mr.  Vyner  as  those  who  train  their 
horses  in  Yorkshire.  The  first-named  nobleman,  who  also 
trains  with  George  Chaloner  at  Newmarket,  always  has  a 
few  nags  with  Charles  Lund  at  Malton ;  and  Mr.  Vyner 
trains  privately  near  Ripon,  and  he  is  perhaps  the  best 
supporter  of  Yorkshire  racing  of  the  present  day.  Lord 
Durham,  Lord  Londonderry,  and  (until  very  lately)  Lord 
Zetland  bred  horses  in  the  North  and  had  them  trained  at 
Newmarket;  and  though  a  contrary  state  of  affairs  pre- 
vailed in  John  Scott's  time,  it  is  now  a  fact  that  all  the 
largest  Northern  owners  neglect  the  Yorkshire  training 
grounds  in  favour  of  Newmarket. 

This,  in  a  great  measure,  accounts  for  the  disappearance 
of  such  meetings  as  Richmond  and  Northallerton,  and  it 
also  causes  the  sport  at  Beverley,  Thirsk,  and  Ripon  to 
be  very  moderate  as  far  as  class  is  concerned,  since 
nowadays  horses  of  the  first  class  are  so  rarely  trained 
in  Yorkshire.  The  stables  at  Malton  probably  contain  as 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        123 

many  thoroughbreds  as  ever  they  did,  but  a  majority  of 
them  are  platers,  or  at  the  best  handicap  horses,  and  it  is 
many  a  long  year  since  a  classic  victory  was  won  by  a 
Yorkshire -trained  horse.  Middleham  shows  signs  of  even 
greater  decay,  for  there  the  horses  have  declined  in  number 
as  well  as  in  quality,  though  in  1898  the  veteran  trainer- 
jockey,  John  Osborne,  astonished  the  racing  world  by 
winning  for  Mr.  Vyner  the  Great  Northern  Handicap  at 
York,  the  Manchester  Cup,  and  the  Northumberland  Plate 
with  the  four-year-old  King  Crow,  an  exceptional  stayer 
of  the  old-fashioned  stamp,  who  went  some  way  towards 
reviving  the  glories  of  Middleham  Moor.  Hambleton  is 
also  less  in  requisition  as  a  training  ground  than  formerly, 
but  a  good  many  horses  do  their  work  on  Beverley  West- 
wood,  and,  what  with  Malton,  Middleham,  Hambleton, 
Beverley,  Pontefract,  and  Mr.  Vyner's  training  stable  near 
Ripon,  plenty  of  runners  are  always  forthcoming  at  the 
smaller  Yorkshire  meetings  where  the  Southern  stables  are 
little  in  evidence.  A  long  string  of  platers  is  trained  by 
Armstrong  at  Penrith,  in  Cumberland,  and  these  divide  their 
attention  between  the  Yorkshire  meetings  and  the  fixtures 
held  in  the  Northern  Midlands.  Armstrong  has  generally 
something  to  run  at  the  Scotch  meetings  too,  and  Malton 
and  Yorkshire  generally  do  a  great  deal  towards  furnishing 
the  fields  "over  the  border,"  while  at  such  places  as  Gos- 
forth  Park  and  Carlisle  Yorkshire-  and  Cumberland-trained 
horses  are  naturally  much  in  evidence.  A  recognised 
feature  in  connection  with  the  Yorkshire  stables  is  that 
when  any  of  them  do  send  a  horse  to  an  important  Southern 
fixture  they  seldom  return  emptyhanded,  and  in  this  con- 
nection mention  may  be  made  of  the  many  successes  scored 
by  Bates  of  Middleham  at  Ascot,  and  more  especially  in 
the  Ascot  Stakes.  William  PAnson,  of  Malton,  won  the 
Lewes  Handicap  in  following  years  with  Newcourt  and 
Street  Singer ;  and  when  a  Malton  horse  runs  in  a  selling 
plate  at  Newmarket  he  is  generally  worth  following.  Many 
of  the  Newmarket  and  Southern  trainers  are  apt  to  under- 
rate the  form  up  North,  and  over  and  over  again  quite 
long  teams  from  a  South-country  stable  have  invaded  some 


124  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Yorkshire  fixture,  and  have  failed  to  pick  up  a  race. 
Another  peculiarity  of  this  interchange  of  civilities  is  that 
when  a  Newmarket  horse  is  sent  to  run  in  a  little  race, 
say  at  Ripon  or  Thirsk,  he  is  almost  always  made  favourite. 
His  presence  seems  to  establish  a  funk  amongst  Northern 
owners,  and  when  the  numbers  go  up  everyone  is  found  to 
be  inquiring  about  the  stranger.  "  What  is  this  So-and-so  ?  " 
asks  one  burly  Tyke  of  another.  "  Don't  know.  Can't 
find  him  in  the  book,  but  he  has  been  sent  from  Newmarket, 

and  I  see  they've  brought to  ride  him.     That's  good 

enough,  eh?"  That  is  quite  sufficient  for  them  to  put 
their  money  on  the  stranger.  On  one  occasion,  some  ten 
or  twelve  years  ago,  Lord  Durham  won  two  races  on  the 
first  day  at  Gosforth  Park.  On  the  following  day  he  had 
a  plater  in  a  selling  race  who  was  shockingly  bad,  and 
had  only  been  sent  in  order  that  he  might  be  got  rid  of. 
There  was  quite  a  big  field,  but  as  soon  as  the  numbers 
were  up  they  laid  odds  on  the  bearer  of  the  purple  and 
straw  sleeves.  Lord  Durham  was  astounded.  "What 
does  it  mean  ? "  he  said.  "  Mine  was  beaten  a  hundred 
yards  in  his  trial."  What  it  really  meant  was  that  the 
stable  was  known  to  be  in  form,  and  that  the  presence  of 
a  Newmarket  -  trained  horse  in  a  £100  selling  plate  at 
Newcastle  caused  the  public  to  imagine  that  they  had 
found  a  good  thing.  The  horse  finished  "down  the 
course,"  in  accordance  with  the  expectations  of  his  owner. 
In  contrast  to  the  above  the  Northern  trainer,  when  he 
goes  South,  does  not  take  a  horse  with  him  unless  he 
greatly  fancies  his  chance.  He  has  worked  out  the  form 
of  everything  in  the  race  in  which  he  intends  to  run  one, 
and  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  can  just  about  win. 
Down  South  he  will  probably  get  three  times  the  odds 
that  he  would  obtain  nearer  home,  and  so  he  travels  a 
couple  of  hundred  miles,  and  as  often  as  not  reaps  the 
benefit  of  his  enterprise. 

The  best  racecourses  in  Yorkshire  are  Doncaster  Town 
Moor  and  the  Knavesmire  at  York,  and  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  or  more  these  two  places  have  been  the  great 
centres  of  racing  in  the  North.  York  and  Doncaster 


THE  YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       125 

Races  do  not  lack  historians,  and  those  who  wish  to  know 
what  manner  of  racing  was  in  vogue  in  Yorkshire  half  a 
dozen  generations  ago  should  read  Orton's  Annals  of  York 
and  Doncaster,  which  treats  of  the  early  fortunes  of  either 
place.  York  Races  used  to  be  held  on  Rawcliffe  Ings,  but 
the  Knavesmire  was  requisitioned  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  a  finer  flat  galloping  course  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find,  though  it  is  liable  to  become  sloppy  after 
heavy  rain. 

Doncaster,  as  the  only  Northern  racecourse  on  which  a 
classic  race  is  run,  demands  first  attention,  and  it  is  satis- 
factory to  know  that  the  prestige  of  former  days  is  well 
maintained.  The  Doncaster  meetings,  which  yield  a  large 
profit,  are  "run"  by  the  Corporation,  and  that  body,  from 
the  revenue  derived,  has  considerably  reduced  the  rates,  and 
done  much  good  to  the  town  in  all  sorts  of  ways.  Indeed, 
Doncaster  Races  have  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  history 
of  the  old  Yorkshire  borough,  and  at  the  same  time  there 
has  been  no  stint  in  the  way  of  expenditure,  no  niggardly 
policy  with  regard  to  the  prizes  offered,  but  an  honest 
determination  on  the  part  of  a  sport-loving  community  to 
provide  the  best  racing  possible,  on  terms  at  which  the 
public  have  never  grumbled.  I  always  think,  when  the 
St.  Leger  week  comes  round,  that  the  turf  at  Doncaster 
is,  with  the  single  exception  of  Goodwood,  the  best-looking 
met  with  in  the  course  of  the  racing  season.  I  do  not 
affirm  that  it  is  any  better  than  the  Newmarket  courses — 
especially  the  Bunbury  Mile — but  I  say  advisedly  that  it 
is  the  best  -  looking,  for,  whereas  Newmarket  frequently 
shows  a  thin  topping  of  withered  grasses,  Doncaster  always 
presents  a  surface  of  the  brightest  emerald,  and,  thanks 
to  the  fact  that  the  public  are  kept  off  the  run-in,  it  looks 
quite  as  fresh  at  the  end  of  the  meeting  as  it  does  when 
the  saddling -bell  rings  for  the  first  race.  Even  if  the 
September  Meeting  comes  on  the  top  of  a  time  of  drought, 
the  running  track  at  Doncaster  looks  as  fresh  as  paint,  and 
has  that  beautifully  smooth  appearance  which  sound  old  turf 
only  can  give.  The  course  is  on  the  whole  very  flat,  the 
sort  of  level  galloping  which  serves  a  horse  with  a  long 


126  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

stride,  and  perhaps  as  directly  different  from  Epsom  as  one 
course  can  be  from  another.  Yet  the  winner  of  the  Derby 
very  often  wins,  and  almost  invariably  secures  a  place,  in 
the  St.  Leger,  and  this  is  a  strong  argument  in  favour  of  the 
reliability  of  the  Epsom  Course.  If  the  latter  were  really 
"  fluky,"  as  many  of  its  detractors  urge,  we  should  not  see 
the  Epsom  form  reproduced  at  Doncaster  year  after  year, 
and  the  winner  of  the  Derby  would  seldom  be  the  best 
of  his  year.  Doncaster  provides  a  stronger  test  of  stamina 
than  Epsom  does,  but  Epsom  Downs  are  a  genuine  test  of 
merit.  The  chief  course  at  Doncaster  is  a  "  round  "  one, 
and  a  few  yards  short  of  two  miles  in  extent.  The  St.  Leger 
starting-post  is  just  outside  the  paddock,  and  the  horses 
cover  a  distance  of  I  mile  6  furlongs  and  162  yards,  or 
practically  run  the  circular  track  with  the  omission  of  the 
furlong  and  odd  yards  which  lie  between  the  winning-post 
and  the  end  of  the  paddock.  The  first  six  furlongs  are 
straight,  the  field  going  away  from  the  stands ;  they  then 
begin  to  turn  gradually  to  the  left,  and  hereabouts  is  a 
slight,  quick  rise,  followed  by  a  gentle  fall.  Towards  the 
Rifle  Butts  the  horses  are  going  straight  again,  but  shortly 
after  passing  the  well-known  red-brick  buttress  they  begin 
to  come  round  to  the  left,  and  they  reach  the  straight  course 
at  the  Intake  turn,  something  more  than  half  a  mile  from 
home.  There  is  another  slight  "elbow"  in  the  run  home, 
and  this  is  the  one  drawback  to  the  course,  as  horses  that 
are  well  placed  on  the  rails  at  this  point  most  certainly 
secure  an  advantage.  From  the  Rifle  Butts  to  the  winning- 
post  there  are  no  gradients  whatever — or  if  there  are  they 
are  imperceptible — and  it  is  this  part  of  the  journey  which 
tests  the  stayer.  The  Cup  Course  proper  is  2  miles  and 
5  furlongs,  the  starting-post  being  close  to  the  Red  House ; 
but  of  late  years  the  Cup  has  been  decided  on  a  two-mile 
course,  the  start  for  which  is  made  directly  opposite  the 
stands.  There  is  a  new  straight  mile  (though  the  "  elbow  " 
is  comprised  in  it),  and  five-  and  six-furlong  races  are  decided 
on  portions  of  it,  but  some  of  the  mile  races  are  decided  on 
the  last  mile  of  the  St.  Leger  Course. 

The  Spring  Meeting  at  Doncaster  is  held  at  the  end  of 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       127 

May,  immediately  after  the  York  Spring  Meeting,  and 
generally  in  the  week  before  the  Derby.  It  is  just  an 
ordinary  second-class  affair,  with  two  or  three  good  stakes 
to  relieve  the  monotony  of  plating.  On  the  first  day  the 
Doncaster  Spring  Handicap  of  £1,000,  run  on  the  Sandall 
(New)  Mile  is  the  chief  attraction,  but  the  Hopeful  Stakes 
is  often  won  by  a  good  horse,  and  a  similar  remark  applies 
to  the  Fitzwilliam  Stakes  on  the  following  day,  when  the 
Chesterfield  Handicap,  over  a  mile  and  a  half  of  ground, 
is  the  most  important  race  on  the  programme.  The  Autumn 
Meeting  in  the  early  days  of  September  is  much  more 
ambitious,  and  is,  in  one  respect,  the  most  important 
meeting  of  the  year.  It  does  not  approach  Ascot  so  far 
as  the  value  of  the  prizes  is  concerned,  and  though  it  is 
the  equal  of,  it  is  no  better  than  Epsom  from  many  points 
of  view.  But  the  St.  Leger  is  the  final  act  of  the  three- 
year-old  drama,  and  during  the  week  the  best  public 
yearlings  of  the  year  are  offered  for  sale.  The  sales,  which 
are  chiefly  confined  to  yearlings,  are  a  most  important 
feature  of  the  Doncaster  week,  and  they  serve  to  bring  all 
the  breeders  to  the  town,  as  well  as  the  regular  followers 
of  racing.  This  is  the  feature  which  gives  the  meeting 
such  prominence. 

Doncaster  is  one  of  three  meetings,  Ascot  and  Epsom 
being  the  other  two,  which  draw  upon  every  section  of 
the  racing  world,  hence  the  crowd  at  Doncaster  in  Sep- 
tember is  the  largest  of  the  year,  Epsom  on  the  Derby 
day  alone  excepted.  Everyone  goes  to  Doncaster,  even 
the  men  and  women  who  attend  only  two  or  three  meetings 
each  year;  and  the  place  is  situated  in  a  horse-loving 
district,  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  which  would  sooner 
lose  a  week's  wages  than  miss  t'  Leger.  Past  writers  have 
told  us  how,  before  the  railway  was  made,  thousands  of 
hardy  sons  of  toil  would  walk  the  eighteen  miles  between 
Sheffield  and  the  Town  Moor,  through  the  night,  in  order 
that  they  might  secure  a  good  place  on  the  rails,  and 
that  they  would  stand  quietly  waiting  all  the  morning 
rather  than  lose  the  position  they  had  been  at  so  much 
pains  to  secure.  Now  they  come  by  train,  and,  as  the 


128  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

population  has  increased,  they  come  in  greater  numbers, 
and  Doncaster  on  a  St.  Leger  day  is  a  sight  to  be  seen 
and  wondered  at.  And  what  is  more,  strange  as  it  must 
seem  to  anyone  accustomed  only  to  the  giddy  Epsom  crowd, 
it  is  an  absolute  fact  that  with  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  of  every  thousand  the  racing  is  the  sole  attraction. 
They  come  to  see  the  horses  they  have  heard  about  and 
read  about  all  the  past  year,  and  many  of  the  humblest 
save  up  their  wages  in  order  to  be  able  to  pay  their 
entrance  money  to  the  paddock,  and  so  gain  a  nearer  sight 
of  their  favourites.  Mix  with  any  part  of  the  crowd  in 
the  St.  Leger  week,  and  the  conversation  will  be  horse 
and  all  horse ;  but  if  you  move  slowly  through  the  throng 
on  the  hill  at  Epsom,  shutting  your  ears  to  the  shouts  of 
bookmakers,  you  will  find  that  the  racing  is  quite  a  minor 
feature  of  the  holiday,  and  that  the  mob  is  attracted  by 
a  hundred  and  one  distractions,  of  which  the  Derby  is 
one  of  the  least.  At  Doncaster  there  is  no  "fun  of  the 
fair."  The  crowds  pour  into  the  town  and  march  stolidly 
on  by  the  High  Street,  Hall  Gate,  and  the  broad  avenue 
of  Bennetthorpe  until  the  course  is  reached.  There  is  no 
chaff,  next  to  no  humour,  and  the  average  unit  is  never 
pulled  up  during  his  two-mile  tramp  except  by  the  insidious 
tones  of  the  tipster,  or  else  to  buy  a  packet  of  the  inevitable 
butter-scotch,  which  in  warm  weather  is  a  thirst  stimulator 
of  the  first  order.  The  Bennetthorpe  is  a  magnificent 
approach  to  the  racecourse,  the  road  being  of  great  width, 
and  the  sidewalks  so  broad  that  the  crowd  can  advance 
ten  or  twelve  abreast  It  is  beautifully  shaded  with  fine 
old  limes,  and  on  the  St.  Leger  day  it  is  one  moving  mass 
of  humanity  from  9  a.m.  until  2.  p.m.  Those  who  wish  to 
drive  up  can  do  so  at  an  average  price  of  one  shilling  per 
head,  and  the  road  allows  of  four  or  five  vehicles  being 
driven  abreast.  It  used  to  be  a  somewhat  dangerous  journey 
when  hundreds  of  empty  vehicles  were  returning  to  seek 
fresh  loads,  for,  though  policemen  formed  a  line  down  the 
centre  of  the  road,  some  impetuous  driver  was  always 
breaking  out  of  the  ranks,  and  to  see  three  or  four  "  wrecks  " 
between  the  town  and  the  course  was  no  unusual  thing. 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       129 

The  Doncaster  Corporation  became  aware  of  the  danger, 
and  wisely  made  a  new  road  from  the  back  of  the  stands 
to  the  town ;  and  now  when  the  vehicles  have  discharged 
their  loads  they  are  obliged  to  return  by  the  new  route, 
and  thus  the  collisions  are  much  discounted.  Reckless 
driving  is  still  the  order  of  the  day,  however.  The  driver 
of  Doncaster  is  a  very  Jehu  inasmuch  as  he  "driveth 
furiously."  Still,  at  Doncaster  nine-tenths  of  the  visitors 
walk  from  the  station  to  the  course,  and  quietly  return  after 
the  racing  is  over. 

Some  who  have  backed  winners,  or  have  eaten  too  much 
butter-scotch,  may  linger  for  hours  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  beershops,  but,  considering  its  vast  size,  the  Doncaster 
crowd  is  a  sober  one,  and  the  visitors  on  the  St.  Leger  day 
leave  the  station  between  5.30  and  7.30  p.m.  at  the  rate  of 
about  eight  thousand  an  hour.  The  Great  Northern  Railway 
Company  deal  with  the  traffic  in  an  absolutely  wonderful 
manner.  There  seems  to  be  little  bustling,  and  com- 
paratively very  little  crowding.  The  trains  steam  up  to 
the  various  platforms  —  special  and  ordinaries — with  their 
distinctions  shown  in  large  black  and  white  placards ;  they 
are  instantly  filled,  and,  moving  away,  make  room  for  others. 
The  excursionists  depart  from  other  platforms,  away  from 
the  station  proper,  and  here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  better  sort  of  visitors  take  up  their 
quarters  for  the  week  some  distance  away  from  the  town. 
Every  country  house  within  thirty  miles  of  the  course  (and 
even  further)  is  filled  for  the  occasion,  and  dozens  of  parties 
are  made  up  who  sojourn  temporarily  at  the  hotels  of  York, 
Harrogate,  Leeds,  Retford,  and  other  places  which  are  within 
an  hour  or  so  of  Doncaster.  Some  even  travel  from  London, 
and  go  back  to  town  each  night.  No  one  now  stays  in 
Doncaster  itself  if  he  can  find  handy  quarters  elsewhere. 
At  one  time  the  Doncaster  townsfolk  reaped  a  rich  harvest 
in  the  race  week.  Hundreds  of  houses  were  let  at  high 
rates,  and  all  the  hotel  and  lodging  accommodation  was 
eagerly  secured.  Nowadays  a  very  different  state  of  affairs 
prevails,  and  though  a  great  many  of  the  visitors  are  obliged 
to  stay  in  the  town — for  example,  those  who  have  blood  stock 


130  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

for  sale,  and  the  trainers,  jockeys,  and  any  who  wish  to  be 
present  at  the  morning  exercise — Doncaster  is  far  from 
popular  as  a  staying -place,  and  in  a  great  measure  the 
residents  have  killed  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  eggs 
by  exorbitant  charges. 

The  morning  gallops  used  to  be  a  great  feature  of  the  St. 
Leger  week,  but  in  these  rapidly-moving  times  the  before- 
breakfast  work  of  the  horses  has  become  of  comparatively 
little  importance,  because  very  few  of  the  cracks  leave  home 
until  the  last  moment.     Even  Newmarket-trained  nags  can 
be  sent  off  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  they  are 
to  run,  and  if  a  majority  of  them  are  still  sent  overnight 
they  have  done  their  last  gallop  before  leaving  home,  seldom 
doing  more  than  a  couple  of  gentle  canters  on  the  morning 
of  their  race.     The  enthusiasts  still  go  to  see  them,  and  can 
of  course  form  some  idea  of  their  condition  ;  and  Doncaster 
and  York  attract  enthusiastic  admirers  of  horseflesh  in  far 
greater   numbers   than   are   to   be   found    elsewhere.      The 
Doncaster  paddock  in  the  St.  Leger  week  attracts  horsy 
men  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  so  crowded  has  it 
become  of  late  years  that  an  inspection  of  the  candidates 
for  any  of  the  bigger  events  is  by  no  means  an  easy  job. 
When  a  crack  appears  he  is  instantly  mobbed  by  the  "  Tykes," 
who  follow  him  round  and  round,  many  of  them  audibly  com- 
menting on  his  good  and  bad  points,  his  condition,  and  his 
chances  of  winning.    Nowhere  in  the  kingdom  is  horse  worship 
so  thoroughly  practised,  and  no  racecourse  crowd  is  so  com- 
petent to  give  an  opinion  on  what  it  sees.     Many,  perhaps 
almost   a   majority,  of  the   onlookers   have   been   amongst 
horses  all  their  lives,  have  grown  up  in  a  circle  where  the 
thoroughbred   is   universally   admired,  and    are   acquainted 
with  the  pedigrees  and  performances  of  the  animals  they 
have  come  to  see.      Such  men  can  tell  you  all  about  the 
great  Leger  winners  of  the  past;   they  can  remember  the 
appearance  of  all  the  horses  they  have  seen  win  the  last 
classic   race   of    the   year ;    and   they   always   have   strong 
opinions  about  the  particular  Leger  they  have  come  to  see. 
On  a  Southern  racecourse,  when  a  big  event  is  on  the  tapis, 
nearly  every  acquaintance   one  meets  begins  with,  "Well, 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        131 

what's  going  to  win  to-day?"      In  Yorkshire  the  case  is 

different ;  it  is  not  "  What's  going  to  win  ? "  but  " '11 

win  t'  Leger.  Now  mark  my  word,  yon's  a  good  horse, 
and  t'others  '11  never  see  t'  way  he  goes."  How  many  times 
has  one  heard  this  sort  of  remark  at  Doncaster  on  the 
Tuesday  or  on  the  Wednesday  morning  !  The  writer  has 
scores  of  times,  and  he  must  admit  that  the  opinion  of  the 
average  Tyke  is  far  better  worth  having  than  that  of  the 
average  student  of  form  or  follower  of  the  money.  Then, 
what  a  reception  a  St.  Leger  winner  has  when  he  returns 
to  the  paddock  !  How  the  crowd  cheer  him  and  his  jockey, 
and  how  they  rush  behind  him  from  the  weighing-room  door 
down  the  paddock,  and  never  leave  him  until  he  is  in  his  box 
with  the  door  shut,  or  taken  outside !  This  Yorkshire  en- 
thusiasm is  a  pretty  feature  of  the  Doncaster  week.  It  may 
be  a  little  inconvenient  at  times,  especially  when  one  is 
rudely  hustled  by  a  burly  Yorkshire  farmer  of  twenty  stone, 
but  it  is  expressive  of  the  huge  love  of  racing  which  is 
inherent  with  the  average  Yorkshireman,  and,  without  going 
into  the  ethics  of  the  question,  it  is  really  one  of  the  strongest 
segments  of  the  backbone  of  the  sport. 

The  Doncaster  programme  is  a  strong  one,  but  chief 
interest  centres  in  the  St.  Leger,  even  though  Yorkshire- 
trained  horses  have  played  very  secondary  parts  since 
Apology  won  in  1874.  It  ver7  seldom  happens  that  the 
Derby  winner  is  not  engaged,  and  in  proof  thereof  the 
Epsom  champion  has  been  first  six  times  and  second  three 
times  in  the  last  ten  years,  the  solitary  exception  being 
Sainfoin,  who  did  not  compete  in  Memoir's  year.  On  some 
occasions  the  Derby  form  is  altered,  and  the  most  recent 
instance  was  supplied  when  La  Fl£che  turned  the  tables  on 
Sir  Hugo  with  consummate  ease  in  1893.  Merry  Hampton 
was  one  who  was  unable  to  sustain  his  Epsom  form  on 
the  Town  Moor,  but  Ladas  was  generally  thought  to  have 
been  unlucky  when  beaten  by  Throstle,  and  had  the  pair 
run  the  race  over  again  on  the  following  day  I  think  that 
odds  would  have  been  laid  on  Lord  Rosebery's  colt. 
Another  notable  case  was  when  Robert  the  Devil  easily 
defeated  Bend  Or  in  1880,  but  the  Duke  of  Westminster's 


132  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

colt  had  his  revenge  in  the  Epsom  Cup  nine  months  later, 
and  at  the  stud  is  immeasurably  superior  to  his  great 
rival,  whose  best  son  is  probably  Chittabob.  That  the 
last-named  would  have  been  a  great  horse  had  he  been 
less  difficult  to  train  is  in  every  way  likely.  As  a  two-year- 
old,  and  when  he  had  the  best  of  the  weights,  he  defeated 
Donovan,  and  as  a  three-year-old  he  showed  brilliant  speed, 
both  in  the  St.  Leger  and  Lancashire  Plate,  but  in  neither 
race  was  he  half  trained.  He  was  one  of  the  big,  powerful, 
heavily-framed  sort,  and  though  many  of  his  stock  win 
races,  they  hardly  seem  to  have  inherited  the  stamina  of 
their  grandsire,  Robert  the  Devil,  most  of  them  being  best 
known  as  speedy  sprinters.  On  the  whole  the  St.  Leger 
is  less  seldom  won  by  a  bad  horse  than  the  Derby.  The 
moderate  Sir  Visto  won  both  races,  it  is  true,  but  we  should 
have  to  go  back  a  great  number  of  years  to  find  a  Sainfoin 
or  a  Merry  Hampton  amongst  the  Doncaster  winners,  and 
when  the  best  filly  is  the  best  of  her  year  she  often  defeats 
the  Derby  winner  in  the  St.  Leger.  Instances  can  be  quoted 
which  bear  out  the  argument.  La  Fleche  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  and  if  we  allow  that  Throstle  was  no  better  than 
Ladas,  Seabreeze  fairly  beat  Ayrshire ;  Dutch  Oven  beat 
Shotover — a  filly,  but  a  Derby  winner,  Jannette  beat  Sefton, 
and  Marie  Stuart  beat  Doncaster,  the  last-named  pair  being 
stable  companions  in  the  same  ownership,  who  fought  out  a 
desperate  finish,  which  the  filly  won. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Autumn  Meeting  the  Champagne 
Stakes  for  two-year-olds  is  the  big  event  of  the  card.  This 
race  is  run  on  a  course  of  5  furlongs  and  152  yards,  and 
there  are  no  penalties  or  allowances,  so  that  as  a  rule  the 
best  of  those  left  in  throw  down  the  gauntlet.  The  race 
is  considered  to  be  a  difficult  one  to  win,  and  it  is  only  very 
occasionally  that  it  falls  to  a  moderate  horse,  though  such 
comparatively  recent  winners  as  Ayah,  Omladina,  and 
Solaro  failed  to  distinguish  themselves  much  afterwards. 
Against  those  names  can  be  set  those  of  Velasquez,  Ladas, 
La  Fleche,  Chittabob,  Ayrshire,  and  Minting,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  beautiful  Isonomy  filly,  Riviera,  who  fell  down  dead 
when  at  exercise,  before  she  had  an  opportunity  of  showing 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        133 

what  her  three-year-old  career  would  have  been.  Another 
important  event  on  the  first  day's  card  is  the  Great  York- 
shire Handicap  of  a  mile  and  three-quarters,  and  on  the 
third  day  the  Portland  Plate  vies  with  the  Goodwood 
Stewards'  Cup  in  being  the  most  popular  short  handicap 
of  the  day.  On  the  last  day  the  Doncaster  Cup  and  the 
Park  Hill  Stakes,  in  which  three-year-old  fillies  run  the 
St.  Leger  distance,  claim  the  most  attention,  and  the  Don- 
caster  Cup  now  takes  about  equal  rank  with  the  Goodwood 
Cup,  and  of  late  years  has  perhaps  been  a  more  difficult 
race  to  win.  A  memorable  victory,  of  which  the  writer  was 
a  witness,  was  that  of  Lily  Agnes  (the  dam  of  Ormonde)  in 
1874,  and  since  that  time  the  race  has  fallen  to  a  host  of 
celebrities,  though  it  has  not  such  a  brilliant  record  as  the 
Ascot  Gold  Cup.  Still,  taking  the  list  from  the  year  in 
which  Lily  Agnes  won,  we  find  such  names  as  Craigmillar 
(who  also  won  the  St.  Leger),  Hampton,  Isonomy,  Thebais, 
The  Bard,  Carlton,  Tyrant,  Queen's  Birthday,  and  the  Irish 
mare  Laodamia,  while  many  of  the  other  names  are  suggest- 
ive of  the  best  long-distance  handicap  form  of  the  time. 

Before  leaving  Doncaster  I  will  briefly  analyse  the  pro- 
gramme of  the  September  Meeting,  and  also  point  out  that 
long-distance  racing  is  encouraged  much  more  than  at 
the  Park  meetings.  Indeed,  the  four  days  analyse  pretty 
well  in  this  respect,  the  twenty-six  races  of  1900  being  as 
follows : — 

The  Doncaster  Cup  .         .     2  miles. 


St.  Leger 
Great  Yorkshire  Handicap 
Park  Hill  Stakes 
Rufford  Abbey  Plate 
Zetland  Stakes 
Doncaster  Stakes 
Bradgate  Park  Plate  . 
Alexandra  Plate 
Doncaster  Welter  Plate 
Cleveland  Handicap  . 
Scarborough  Stakes    . 
Westmoreland  Plate  . 
Prince  of  Wales'  Nursery  . 


mile  6  furlongs  132  yards. 
»    6       „         132     „ 
»    6       „         132     „ 
»    4       » 
»    4       »> 


134  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Tattersall's  Sale  Stakes  .     7  furlongs. 

Fitzwilliam  Stakes      .  •     6  „ 

Rous  Plate    .  .     6  „ 

Champagne  Stakes     .  .5  „         152  yards. 

Clumber  Plate  .5  „         152     „ 

Portland  Plate            .  .5  „         152     „ 

Stand  Plate    .             .  .     5  „         132     „ 

Glasgow  Nursery        .  .     5  „ 

Milton  Stakes            .  5  „ 

Corporation  Handicap  .5  „ 

Juvenile  Selling  Plate  .5  „ 

Danum  Nursery         .  .5  „ 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  fourteen  of  the  twenty- 
six  races  were  run  over  courses  of  a  mile  and  upwards,  and 
that  four  of  the  most  important  events  on  the  programme 
are  of  a  mile  and  three-quarters  and  two  miles.  Doncaster 
Town  Moor  is  eminently  suitable  for  these  long  races,  and  it 
is  satisfactory  to  note  that  here,  at  all  events,  the  five-furlong 
sprint  is  in  a  minority. 

The  value  of  the  stakes  in  1900  works  out  as  follows :  On 
Tuesday,  seven  races,  worth  £3,799  ;  on  Wednesday,  six 
races,  worth  £7,135 ;  on  Thursday,  seven  races,  worth  £2,630; 
on  Friday,  six;  races,  worth  £3,620.  Total,  £17,184. 

YORK 

York  Races  have  been  in  existence  certainly  for  167  years, 
and  possibly  the  fixtures  do  not  hold  so  high  a  place  as  they 
did  a  hundred  years  ago,  though  the  August  Meeting  on 
the  Knavesmire  is  still  an  important  and  popular  gathering, 
and  its  Ebor  Handicap  attracts  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  visitors.  According  to  Turf  historians,  York  Races  during 
the  eighteenth  century  were  attended  by  all  the  great  county 
families,  whose  coaches  were  drawn  up  in  a  long  line 
beside  the  course,  and  who  supported  the  races  by  running 
horses  or  giving  money  to  be  run  for.  These  functions 
appear  to  have  been  occasions  of  great  state  and  magnifi- 
cence, and  we  are  told  that  the  noblemen  of  the  district 
vied  with  each  other  in  the  splendour  of  their  appointments, 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        135 

that  most  of  the  carriages  were  drawn  by  six  horses  apiece, 
that  outriders  accompanied  them,  and  also  that  partisanship 
ran  high  amongst  the  owners  of  the  horses.     No  doubt  the 
custom  of  "  cross  and  jostle  "  was  much  resorted  to  in  those 
days,  and  though   a   better   state  of  affairs   prevails   now, 
"cross  and  jostle"  at  York  is  not  altogether  a  thing  of  the 
past,  as  the  following  will  show.    Some  time  in  the  seventies, 
when  the  late  Major  Dixon  used  to  act  as  starter  at  York, 
he  was  one  of  a  party  who  were  staying  at  the  Station 
Hotel.     Another  of  the  same  party  had  a  shockingly  bad 
day  on  the  Tuesday,  and  on  Wednesday  morning  gave  out 
that  he  was   not  going   to   bet   that   day,  as   he   knew  of 
something  good  which  was  to  run  on  Thursday  for  which 
he  intended  to  wait.     "  How  will  you  get  through  the  day?" 
queried  a  friend.     "If  you  go  to  the  course  you  are  sure  to 
bet."     "  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do,"  said  Major  Dixon  ;  "  come 
and  stroll  about  outside  with  me,  and  see  the  starts."     This 
suggestion  was  acted  on,  and  a  few  hours  later  the  disconso- 
late punter  saw  a  large  field  come  down  to  the  five-furlong 
post.      There   were   about    a    dozen    runners,   and    James 
Snowden  was  on  the  rails,  while  Fred  Archer  had  drawn 
the  outside  number.      It  must  be  mentioned  that  the  old 
five-furlong  course  then  in  use  was  by  no  means  straight, 
and  that  the  "elbow"  was  so  near  home  as  to  make  an 
inside   position   a   very   great   advantage.     There  was   the 
usual  manoeuvring,  and   then   the   flag   dropped,  Snowden 
and  Archer  both  getting  off  well.     Our  punter  had  moved 
about   a   furlong   up  the  course,  and  turned  round  as  the 
horses   approached   him.     To  his  surprise  he  saw  Archer 
shoot    right    across    from    right    to    left,    come    bang   into 
Snowden    and    his    mount,    and    fairly    knock   them    out. 
Indeed,  Snowden  was  as  nearly  as  possible  over  the  rails, 
and  the  force  of  the  collision  was  so  great  that  his  horse 
dropped  back  last,  and  never  was  in  the  race  again.      Up 
hurried   Major   Dixon,  full  of  excitement.      "Did  you  see 
that?"  he  asked,  and  then,  hurrying  on,  shouted,  "There 
will  be  an  awful  row  when  they  get  to  the  weighing-room, 
and  of  course  they  will  want  me."     About  half-way  down  to 
the  stands  the  Major  hurried,  and  then  pulled  up  to  take 


136  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

breath.  "  May  as  well  wait  a  minute ;  they'll  signal  for  me 
by  showing  a  flag."  The  minute  multiplied  into  ten.  "  No 
doubt  they've  put  off  hearing  the  complaint  until  after  the 
next  race,"  observed  the  Major,  and  he  and  his  friend  pro- 
ceeded to  cross  the  Knavesmire  to  the  mile  post,  where 
the  start  for  that  event  took  place.  After  a  while  the  horses 
began  to  arrive.  "  Here  comes  Snowden,"  said  the  Major ; 
"now  we  shall  hear  all  about  it."  Up  rode  Snowden, 
apparently  with  nothing  to  say,  but  observing  the  look  of 
anxious  inquiry  with  which  the  starter  regarded  him,  a 
smile,  suggesting  recognition  of  the  circumstances,  passed 
over  his  features,  and  moving  his  horse  close  to  Major 
Dixon,  he  put  his  hand  to  his  mouth  and  shouted  in  a 

hoarse  voice,  "Ain't  he  a hot  un,  governor?"    That  was 

all.  Snowden  had  made  no  complaint ;  he  had  taken  the 
incident  as  part  of  the  day's  work,  and  he  seemed  to  regard 
the  deliberate  "cross  and  jostle"  to  which  Archer  had  treated 
him  as  something  to  be  admired  rather  than  make  a  fuss 
about. 

What  York  may  have  been  in  the  past  hardly  concerns 
us  now.  In  the  present  it  is  popular  and  successful,  with 
a  capital  programme  at  its  August  fixture,  and  a  fair  one 
in  the  spring,  when  the  meeting  generally  clashes  with  Bath. 
There  is  no  "  gate "  at  York,  and,  as  at  Doncaster,  the 
meetings  are  "  run "  by  the  Corporation,  who  keep  the 
course  in  wonderfully  good  order,  though  the  freemen  of 
the  city  have  the  right  of  pasturage.  Just  now  the  longest 
races  are  run  over  a  course  of  a  mile  and  six  furlongs,  and 
the  starting-point  for  these  events  is  a  full  half-mile  from 
the  stands ;  but  there  is  a  two-mile  course.  Dead  flat 
galloping  it  is  all  the  way,  the  long  course  being  straight 
for  about  seven  furlongs,  and  then  on  the  turn  until  the 
run-in  is  reached,  about  half  a  mile  from  home.  There  is  a 
new  straight  six-furlong  course  which  came  into  use  a  few 
years  ago,  and  this  is  a  great  improvement  upon  the  old  one, 
with  its  bad  "  elbow "  so  near  home.  On  the  old  T.Y.C.  at 
York  an  inside  position  was  of  far  more  value  than  it  ought 
to  have  been,  and  I  always  noted  that  a  two-year-old  who 
could  win  on  it  after  being  drawn  on  an  outside  position 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        137 

was  nearly  always  worth  following.  As  a  rule  winners 
finished  on  the  side  of  the  course  furthest  from  the  stands, 
no  matter  where  they  had  started,  but  now  they  often  come 
up  close  under  the  stands,  and  the  new  course  is  such  a  fair 
one  that,  provided  a  horse  begins  quickly,  it  is  quite  im- 
material whether  it  started  on  the  right,  the  left,  or  in  the 
centre.  The  Knavesmire  in  wet  weather  becomes  very 
heavy  on  account  of  its  low-lying  position,  and  at  such 
times  the  horses  all  finish  dead -slow,  and  strength  and 
stamina  are  well  served.  At  the  August  Meeting  the 
going  is  more  often  hard  than  soft,  but  the  sport  is 
nowadays  always  good  and  the  attendance  quite  the  best 
to  be  found  at  any  of  the  Northern  meetings,  saving  only 
Doncaster.  At  the  Spring  Meeting  the  Great  Northern 
Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a  half  is  the  principal  race,  while 
on  the  second  day  the  Flying  Dutchman's  Handicap  over 
the  mile  course  is  generally  won  by  a  useful  one.  There  are 
also  a  couple  of  nice  two-year-old  stakes,  one  on  either  day, 
but  the  meeting  is  in  no  sense  a  great  one,  and  a  large 
majority  of  the  runners  are  trained  not  far  from  the  course. 
The  August  fixture  is  of  quite  a  different  character.  It 
is  held  at  the  end  of  the  month,  when  the  grouse  shooters 
have  had  about  ten  days  of  sport,  and  when  the  moors — and 
probably  many  of  the  guns — are  in  need  of  a  rest.  The 
place  lies  handy  to  all  the  English  moors,  and  York  thus 
draws  largely  upon  the  class  who  shoot  as  well  as  race.  It 
is  also  an  occasion  for  numerous  house  parties  from  a  large 
residential  district,  and  the  racing  is  good  enough  to  draw 
from  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  racing  men  those  who  think 
racing  the  first  of  all  sports.  The  programme  is  planned  on 
very  sound  lines,  there  being  important  weight-for-age  events 
on  each  of  the  three  days,  and  it  by  no  means  unfrequently 
happens  that  the  three-year-old  running  has  considerable 
bearing  on  the  St.  Leger.  On  the  Tuesday  the  Yorkshire 
Oaks  for  three-year-old  fillies  and  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Plate 
for  two-year-olds  always  attract  good  class,  and  the  former 
race  has  a  certain  notoriety  through  the  favourite  for  it 
having  so  often  been  beaten  by  an  outsider.  It  is  run  over 
a  mile  and  a  half,  and  while  winners  are  penalised  maidens 


138  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

can  claim  a  7-lb.  allowance.  Wednesday's  programme  is 
even  stronger  than  that  of  Tuesday.  The  Duke  of  York 
Stakes,  a  weight- for-age  three-year-old  race  of  a  mile  and 
a  half,  is  one  of  the  features,  and  good-class  two-year-olds 
are  seen  out  in  the  Convivial  Produce  Stakes.  These  two 
events  are  good  enough  to  ensure  the  success  of  any  one 
day's  racing,  but  in  addition  there  is  the  Ebor  Handicap, 
worth  £  1,000,  and  run  over  the  mile  and  three-quarters 
course.  Unfortunately  this  race  has  fallen  upon  times 
which  are  evil  when  compared  with  those  of  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago,  and  the  last  half-dozen  winners  have  all 
been  moderate.  The  race  was  won  by  a  good  mare  in  1892, 
when  Alice  did  the  trick  under  9  st,  and  Buccaneer  and 
King  Monmouth  (who  won  with  8  st.  I2lbs.  in  the  saddle) 
were  good  horses.  The  great  winners  of  the  event,  however, 
were  Corrie  Roy,  who  carried  no  less  than  9  st.  12  Ibs.,  and 
Isonomy,  who,  as  a  four-year-old,  was  successful  with  4  Ibs. 
less.  Victor  Emmanuel  won  with  9  st,  Lily  Agnes  with  8  st. 
8  Ibs.,  Albert  Victor  with  8st.  12  Ibs.,  and  Paganini,  who  won 
the  Goodwood  Stakes  in  the  same  year,  with  9  st.  4  Ibs.  All 
these  were  first-rate  handicap  performances,  and  one  would 
like  to  see  some  of  the  same  class  winning  now,  instead  of 
the  ex-selling  platers  that  have  been  to  the  fore  of  late. 

The  Ebor  Handicap  is  to  the  Yorkshire  folk  second  only 
to  the  St.  Leger  as  a  draw.  The  city  is  visited  on  that  day 
by  thousands  of  excursionists,  and  the  Knavesmire  after  the 
last  race  presents  a  most  extraordinary  appearance.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  huge  crowd  walk  back  to  the  town,  and  whereas 
at  Doncaster  the  stands  are  close  to  the  road,  so  that  the 
latter  at  once  absorbs  the  people,  at  York  there  is  half  a  mile 
of  common  between  the  head  of  the  course  and  the  Knaves- 
mire  Gate,  and  the  crowd  spread  themselves  over  this  space 
in  a  fashion  which  is  seen  on  no  other  racecourse. 

For  some  years  past  it  has  been  the  custom  of  a  worthy 
inhabitant  of  York  to  regale  all  the  huntsmen  of  the  neigh- 
bouring packs  of  foxhounds  at  luncheon  on  this  particular 
day,  and  a  standing  dish  at  the  feast  is  the  veteran  trainer- 
jockey,  John  Osborne.  The  writer  was  present  on  one 
occasion  when  a  burly  East  Riding  farmer  was  one  of  the 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS        139 

party.  The  gentleman  in  question  was  not  exactly  a  racing 
man,  and  had  come  little  into  contact  with  the  professionals 
of  the  sport.  He  was,  however,  much  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  he  was  actually  facing  a  real  live  jockey,  more 
especially  one  he  had  heard  about  all  his  life,  but  had 
never  met  before.  All  through  the  meal  he  could  scarcely 
keep  his  eye  off  the  man  who  had  won  the  St.  Leger  on 
Lord  Clifden  and  Apology,  and  when  there  was  a  pause 
in  the  conversation  he  broke  in,  in  the  broad  East  Riding 
tongue,  with,  "  Noo  then,  Mr.  Osborne,  for  the  amusement 
of  this  company,  will  ye  oblige  them  by  telling  what  was 
f  biggest  ramp  ye  were  ever  in  ? "  A  shout  of  laughter 
greeted  the  outburst,  but  John  Osborne  was  equal  to  the 
occasion,  and  when  there  was  silence  struck  in  with,  "Well, 
gentlemen,  I  believe  I  once  carried  5  Ibs.  too  much  at 
Newton,  and  won,  but  I  said  nothing  about  it  afterwards." 
Thursday's  card  has  for  its  chief  attractions  the  Great 
Yorkshire  Stakes  and  the  Gimcrack  Stakes,  the  former 
a  three-year-old  race  over  a  mile  and  three-quarters  of 
ground,  and  the  latter  a  substantial  two-year-old  prize, 
which  is  invested  with  a  considerable  amount  of  e"clat.  The 
Great  Yorkshire  Stakes  affords  a  capital  St.  Leger  trial, 
but  nowadays  it  is  the  fashion  to  bottle  up  St.  Leger 
favourites  from  Ascot  to  Doncaster ;  thus  the  York  race 
generally  attracts  some  three  or  four  of  what  may  be  termed 
the  second  rank  of  three-year-olds.  Two  decades  ago 
owners  were  not  afraid  of  running  their  St.  Leger  horses 
at  York,  and  it  occasionally  happened  that  a  favourite  for 
the  Doncaster  race  had  his  wings  singed  on  the  Knavesmire 
a  fortnight  before.  As  previously  recorded,  Blair  Athol  was 
beaten  by  The  Miner  in  this  race,  only  to  turn  the  tables 
most  decisively  at  Doncaster,  while  ten  years  later  Trent 
beat  Apology,  somewhat  unexpectedly;  but  at  Doncaster 
Parson  King's  mare  easily  reversed  the  form,  Trent  also 
losing  second  place  to  Leolinus.  The  defeat  of  Blair  Athol 
was  never  properly  explained,  and  while  some  thought 
that  his  jockey  was  caught  napping,  others  were  of  opinion 
that  he  went  down  because  he  was  short  of  a  few  winding-up 
gallops.  John  Osborne,  who  rode  The  Miner,  to  this  day 


140  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

maintains  that  there  was  not  much  fluke  about  the  race, 
and  that  on  that  particular  day  The  Miner  was  a  great 
horse. 

Trent's  defeat  of  Apology,  which  the  writer  saw,  was 
also  very  inexplicable,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  Tom 
Cannon  rode  a  brilliant  race  on  Mr.  Marshall's  horse,  and 
without  doubt  the  Danebury  jockey  was  a  great  exponent 
of  the  riding  art  in  these  long  races  when  the  fields  were 
small.  It  was  in  such  cases  that  his  knowledge  of  pace 
served  him  so  well,  and  fourteen  years  later  he  did  another 
very  fine  performance  in  this  same  Great  Yorkshire  Stakes. 
This  was  when,  on  the  Duke  of  Westminster's  Ossory,  he 
beat  Caerlaverock  and  Arrandale.  Caerlaverock  had  walked 
over  for  the  Ebor  St.  Leger  on  the  previous  day,  and  had 
won  twice  at  Redcar  a  fortnight  before.  Ossory  had  been 
unplaced  for  the  Sussex  Stakes  at  Goodwood,  after  running 
second  to  his  stable  companion,  Orbit,  in  the  worst  field 
that  ever  went  to  the  post  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes.  Between 
Caerlaverock  and  the  Kingsclere  colt  the  betting  was  very 
close,  and  whether  Ossory  had  developed  roaring  pro- 
clivities or  was  a  non-stayer  is  of  no  consequence.  It 
was,  nevertheless,  plain  enough  that  a  strong  race  would 
not  suit  him,  because  as  soon  as  the  flag  fell  Cannon 
jumped  off  in  front,  and  then  slowed  down  without  losing  his 
place.  He  waited  in  front,  spurting  away  for  a  few  strides 
if  either  of  the  others  came  near  him,  and  then  easing  off 
again.  The  result  was  that  for  a  mile  or  more  they  only 
cantered,  and  Ossory  being  the  speediest,  won  easily.  A 
few  weeks  later,  in  a  strong -run  race  at  Newmarket, 
Caerlaverock  easily  reversed  the  form. 

The  Gimcrack  Stakes  was  founded  in  honour  of  Gim- 
crack,  a  grey  horse,  by  Cripple,  out  of  a  mare  by  Grisewood's 
Partner,  who  was  foaled  in  1760,  and  who  won  an  extra- 
ordinary number  of  races.  He  was  a  veritable  turf  pony, 
little  over  fourteen  hands  high,  and  that  he  must  have  been 
an  object  of  worship  amongst  horse-loving  Yorkshiremen  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  his  name  was  chosen  as  a  title  for  the 
most  important  two-year-old  stake  of  the  York  meetings. 
Gimcrack  was  one  of  the  sort  we  want  now  on  the  turf, 


THE  YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       141 

for  he  won  races  when  eleven  years  old,  and  must  have 
been  a  really  hardy  sort  "  The  Druid,"  in  Post  and  Paddock, 
speaks  of  him  as  "  never  having  been  beaten  but  once,  and 
then  by  Bay  Malton,"  but  for  once  in  a  way  the  prince 
of  Turf  historians  was  wrong.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Bay 
Malton  was  the  first  horse  to  beat  him,  but  he  afterwards 
suffered  defeat  from  Tyrant  at  Newmarket  on  April  2Oth, 
1767,  from  Otterley  at  Wantage  in  the  same  year,  and  from 
Snap  at  Odsey  a  few  weeks  later.  He  was  also  beaten 
at  York  by  Lord  Rockingham's  Pilgrim  in  1768,*  and 
again  at  York  in  the  Great  Subscription  Stakes,  when  he 
ran  third  to  Chatsworth  and  Tortoise.  In  1770,  in  the 
Jockey  Club  Plate  at  the  Second  Spring  Meeting,  he 
finished  fifth  to  Bellario,  and  the  same  horse  beat  him 
again  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 

Still,  Gimcrack  was  doubtless  a  wonderful  performer,  and 
I  take  it  that  the  fact  of  his  never  running  until  he  was 
four  years  old  chiefly  accounted  for  his  long  career.  His 
bone  and  muscle  were  allowed  to  mature  before  any  severe 
strain  was  placed  upon  them,  and,  judging  from  the  number 
of  times  that  he  ran,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was 
always  perfectly  sound.  For  a  short  period  of  his  career 
he  was  in  France  (owned  at  the  time  by  Count  Lauraguais), 
and  it  is  stated  that  in  1766 — when  he  was  six  years  old — 
he  ran  22^  miles  within  the  hour  to  win  a  very  considerable 
bet.  It  is  curious  that  though  Gimcrack  was  beaten  on 
each  occasion  of  his  running  at  York,  a  club  should  have 
been  there  founded  in  his  honour  and  a  race  named  after 
him  ;  but  such  is  the  case,  and  the  Gimcrack  Club  of  the 
present  day  plays  a  not  unimportant  part  in  Turf  matters. 
The  members  subscribe  added  money  to  the  tune  of  ^"500 
to  the  Gimcrack  Stakes  every  August,  and  dine  together 
at  an  appointed  date  in  December,  when,  for  some  years 
past,  it  has  been  the  custom  to  invite  the  Stewards  of  the 
Jockey  Club,  and  other  influential  Turf  notabilities,  so  that 
the  gathering  is  generally  of  a  representative  character. 
The  dinner  is  followed  by  speeches,  and  more  than  once 

Two  years  later,  in  a  20O-guinea  match  between  the  pair,  the  tables  were 
turned. 


142  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

the  Turf  world  has  been  agitated  to  its  foundations  by  the 
utterances  of  one  or  more  of  the  speakers.  Stewards  of 
the  Jockey  Club  and  others  highly  placed  in  the  Turf  world 
have  taken  the  opportunity  of  commenting  on  the  state 
of  the  Turf;  they  have  at  times  spoken  of  abuses  in  no 
half-hearted  fashion,  and  upon  one  occasion  a  boldly  out- 
spoken speech  was  followed  by  a  big  Turf  scandal,  which 
was  finally  settled  in  the  law  courts.  I  need  not  go  into 
this  matter  further  than  to  remark  that  the  Turf  reformer 
who  brought  the  charges  was  undoubtedly  acting  to  the 
best  of  his  ability  in  the  very  highest  interests  of  the  sport, 
and  that  subsequent  events  proved  he  had  not  spoken  with- 
out justification.  Yet  one  gentleman,  almost  unanimously 
sympathised  with  at  the  time  and  since,  was  unfortunately 
placed,  owing  to  unfavourable  circumstances,  in  a  most 
unpleasant  position.  To  the  speeches  made  at  the  dinner 
of  the  Gimcrack  Club  we  almost  look  to  give  an  insight 
of  the  policy  of  the  Jockey  Club  in  the  matter  of  any 
reforms  or  innovations  that  may  be  in  progress  of  develop- 
ment. 

MINOR   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS 

After  Doncaster  and  York  Stockton  takes  the  highest 
place,  and  though  it  can  only  boast  of  one  fixture  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  that  fixture  is  an  important  one.  It 
takes  place  in  the  middle  of  August,  in  the  week  which 
comes  between  the  Redcar  and  York  meetings,  when  what 
is  known  as  the  "  Yorkshire  Circuit "  is  in  course  of  progress, 
and  extends  over  three  days.  The  course  is  situated  on 
Mandale  Bottoms,  nearly  a  mile  from  the  town,  is  perfectly 
flat,  and  about  one  mile  and  three-quarters  round.  There 
is,  in  addition,  a  straight  six  furlongs,  and  plenty  of  room 
everywhere.  The  programme,  without  containing  any  event 
of  the  first  magnitude,  is  a  sound  one,  and  both  two-  and 
three-year-olds  are  well  catered  for.  The  Wynyard,  Hard- 
wicke,  Lambton,  and  Elton  Juvenile  Plates  are  the  principal 
races  for  the  youngsters,  and  for  three-year-olds  there  are 
the  Great  Northern  Leger  of  a  mile  and  five  furlongs  and 
the  Durham  County  Produce  Stakes  of  a  mile  and  two 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       143 

furlongs,  the  former  being  generally  worth  about  ^800  and 
the  latter  a  little  over  £1,000.  The  Stockton  Handicap 
of  a  mile  and  five  furlongs  and  the  Stockton  Stewards' 
Handicap  of  a  mile  are  also  useful  items  of  the  programme, 
and  it  may  be  added  that,  the  course  being  situated  in  a 
thickly  populated  industrial  district,  the  races  are  always 
very  largely  attended.  Possibly  the  date,  coming  just  at 
the  commencement  of  grouse  shooting,  is  not  a  very  happy 
one,  but  Lords  Londonderry  and  Durham  are  good  sup- 
porters of  the  meeting,  as  is  Lord  Zetland,  and  Mr.  James 
Lowther  invariably  brings  a  large  party  from  Wilton  Castle. 
Redcar  Races  as  at  present  constituted  have  not  been 
in  existence  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  though  they 
used  to  race  on  the  sands  before  the  new  course  was  made. 
The  neighbourhood  is  perhaps  as  horsy  as  any  other  part 
of  Yorkshire,  and  no  less  a  celebrity  than  the  Flying 
Dutchman  was  foaled  at  Kirkleatham,  some  three  miles 
from  the  little  seaside  town.  The  course  lies  on  the  inland 
side  of  Redcar,  quite  close  to  the  station,  and  though  it  is 
a  dead-flat,  it  takes  high  rank  amongst  modern  racecourses, 
the  straight  mile  (there  are  nine  furlongs  of  it)  being 
absolutely  one  of  the  best  in  the  kingdom.  The  round,  or 
rather  oval,  course  is  just  under  two  miles,  with  a  straight 
run-in  of  five  furlongs,  but  the  top  turn  past  the  stands  is 
just  a  little  too  abrupt.  Not  that  this  matters,  as  there 
are  no  two-mile  races  on  the  programme  now,  and  the 
bottom  turn  has  not  only  a  more  gradual  "elbow,"  but  is 
so  far  from  home  that  when  a  horse  does  run  wide  he  has 
every  chance  of  making  up  his  ground  again.  Portions 
of  the  straight  mile  are  used  for  the  five-  and  six-furlong 
races,  and  long  -  striding  horses  are  generally  seen  to 
advantage  on  this  dead-level  galloping  course,  whilst 
staying  power  is  always  served.  Indeed,  I  have  seen 
horses  finish  very  leg  -  weary  in  a  strongly  -  run  race  at 
Redcar,  for  there  is  no  give  and  take.  The  Spring  Meeting 
of  two  days  takes  place  at  Whitsuntide,  and  the  Summer 
Meeting  early  in  August,  the  latter  being  generally  on  the 
same  days  as  the  Kempton  August  fixture.  The  two 
places,  however,  are  so  far  apart  that  they  do  not  harm 


144  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

each  other  much ;  at  the  same  time  I  think  that  the 
granting  of  this  date  to  Kempton  was  hard  lines  on  Redcar, 
which  is  the  older  meeting.  Besides  this,  the  Kempton 
Meeting  has  modelled  its  August  programme  on  the 
Redcar  lines.  Thus  Redcar  has  the  Great  National 
Breeders'  Foal  Plate  for  three-year-olds  and  the  Redcar 
Two- Year-Old  Stakes  of  £500,  while  Kempton  has  followed 
with  the  International  Breeders'  Stakes  for  two-year-olds 
and  the  City  of  London  Foal  Stakes  for  three-year-olds. 
It  is  invariably  the  case  that  many  horses  are  engaged  at 
both  places,  and  if  they  happen  to  be  trained  in  the  South 
the  temptation  to  run  at  Kempton  Park  in  preference  to 
Redcar  is  of  course  very  great. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  Sussex  fortnight  until  the 
end  of  the  Doncaster  week  all  the  best  racing,  save  one 
meeting  at  Derby,  is  held  in  Yorkshire,  and  as  there  is 
a  general  outcry  to  the  effect  that  there  are  too  many 
meetings  in  the  course  of  the  year,  here  is  a  chance  for 
the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club.  They  can  decline  to 
allow  any  meetings  to  be  held  at  the  Metropolitan  enclosures 
between  the  end  of  the  Sussex  fortnight  and  the  end  of  the 
Doncaster  week.  Such  action  would  be  for  the  general 
benefit.  Only  two  two -day  meetings  of  any  importance 
would  go,  viz.  Kempton  August  and  Sandown  September. 
Redcar  might  have  an  additional  day,  and  more  horses 
would  be  reserved,  not  only  for  this  meeting,  but  for 
Stockton,  York,  and  even  Doncaster  as  well.  Everyone 
who  attends  the  two  South-country  meetings  referred  to 
must  know  that  they  only  fill  up  half  vacant  dates,  that 
there  is  no  attendance  of  the  magnates  of  the  racing  world, 
and  that  a  very  large  majority  of  the  club  members  and 
others  are  away.  At  Redcar,  Stockton,  and  York,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  all  the  horse-loving  Yorkshire  crowd 
to  draw  upon,  and,  what  is  more,  scores  of  professional 
racing  men — owners,  trainers,  bookmakers,  and  what  not 
— come  North  for  Redcar,  and  stay  in  the  North  until 
after  York  is  over. 

After  the  heat  that,  in  most  years,  is  experienced  at 
Goodwood,  Brighton,  and  Lewes,  the  ozone  of  the  German 


THE   YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       145 

Ocean  at  Redcar  is  absolutely  a  luxury ;  and  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  Redcar  possesses  good  hotel  accommodation, 
while  five  miles  away,  at  Saltburn-by-the-Sea,  are  two  of 
the  best  provincial  hotels  in  the  kingdom.  As  it  is,  many 
racing  men  go  straight  from  Lewes  to  Saltburn,  and  stay 
there  until  the  York  Meeting,  and  many  there  are  who 
prefer  this  Northern  tour  to  any  other  fortnight  of  the 
racing  year. 

Pontefract  is  a  prosperous  racing  centre,  and  its  three 
meetings,  held  in  spring,  summer,  and  early  autumn,  are 
always  well  attended.  It  has  been  spoken  of  as  "  the 
Goodwood  of  the  North,"  but  beyond  the  fact  that  the 
racecourse  is  in  a  park  there  seems  to  be  absolutely  no 
justification  for  the  title.  Catterick  is  the  real  Goodwood 
of  the  North,  as  will  be  presently  shown ;  but  Pontefract 
has  better  racing,  and  being  near  the  southern  end  of  the 
county,  and  about  only  four  hours  by  rail  from  Newmarket, 
it  can  draw  largely  on  horses  trained  on  the  classic  heat^i. 
The  course  is  oval-shaped,  of  a  fairly  give-and-take  descrip- 
tion, and  rather  more  than  two  miles  round.  There  is  also 
a  straight  five  furlongs,  and  this,  as  also  is  the  run-in  of  the 
round  course,  is  all  on  a  slight  rise.  The  principal  stakes 
are  the  Champagne,  for  two-year-olds,  and  the  Great  West 
Riding  Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  good  fields  at 
all  the  meetings  are  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception. 

Beverley  has  only  one  meeting  each  year,  at  which  the 
sport  does  not  rise  beyond  plating,  and  is  almost  entirely 
confined  to  Northern-trained  horses.  The  course  is  prettily 
situated  on  Beverley  Westwood,  quite  close  to  the  town, 
is  nearly  a  mile  and  half  round,  and  oval  in  conformation. 
The  run-in  of  the  round  course  is  half  a  mile,  and  there 
is  also  a  straight  six  furlongs,  which  rises  all  the  way  to 
the  winning-post.  Thirsk  has  two  meetings  every  year,  one 
in  the  spring  and  one  in  October,  and  as  a  rule  at  the  latter 
fixture  fields  are  remarkably  large.  The  course  is  situated 
between  the  railway  station  and  the  town,  and  is  an  oval  of 
one  mile  one  furlong  and  forty  yards,  the  turns  at  either  end 
being  rather  sharp.  There  is  also  a  straight  six  furlongs, 
almost  level,  a  remark  which  also  applies  to  the  round 


146  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

course.  Thirsk,  being  situated  on  the  main  line  between 
London  and  Edinburgh,  always  draws  a  large  crowd,  and 
though  the  sport  is  merely  plating,  the  races  are  popular  all 
over  Yorkshire,  and  many  good  horses  have  been  seen  there 
in  the  past.  Not  so  long  ago  the  Hunt  Cup  used  to  excite 
a  lot  of  local  interest,  but  legislation  on  the  part  of  the 
National  Hunt  Committee  caused  this  and  many  other 
similar  races  to  fade  out  of  the  programme,  and  it  would 
be  all  for  the  best  if  they  were  re-established  under  new 
conditions.  The  Ripon  Course  is  one  for  which  I  never 
had  much  liking,  and  somehow  or  other  Ripon  seems  to 
be  the  least  popular  of  all  Yorkshire  fixtures.  The  course 
is  remarkably  cramped,  and  the  bottom  turn,  if  not  exactly 
dangerous,  very  difficult  to  negotiate  on  a  pulling  horse. 
The  round  course  is  little  over  a  mile  in  circuit,  and  in 
a  long  race  horses  are  obliged  to  be  continually  on  the 
turn.  The  T.Y.C.  is  five  furlongs  straight,  and  there  is  a 
very  slight  rise  to  the  winning-post.  (Since  the  above  was 
written  the  Ripon  executive  have  found  a  new  course,  which, 
it  is  said,  is  a  great  improvement  upon  the  old  one.) 

The  last  meeting  we  come  to  on  the  Yorkshire  list  is 
Catterick  Bridge,  where  one  two-day  meeting  is  held  in 
early  spring.  Unfortunately  the  programme  is  not  a  par- 
ticularly strong  one ;  indeed,  a  portion  of  it  is  under  N.H. 
Rules,  some  two  or  three  steeplechases  being  on  the  card. 
However,  Catterick  Bridge  Races  are  a  highly  popular  social 
function,  and  so  much  support  is  forthcoming  that  I  cannot 
help  thinking  the  place  to  be  capable  of  better  things.  As 
it  is,  the  meeting  takes  place  so  early  in  the  year  that  the 
weather  is  invariably  unsettled  and  the  atmosphere  almost 
always  cold.  There  is  no  great  race  to  attract,  and  the 
course  is  on  a  branch  line  of  railway,  more  than  a  mile 
from  a  station,  in  an  agricultural  and  thinly  populated  neigh- 
bourhood, and  with  no  towns  nearer  than  Richmond  and 
Darlington,  four  and  twelve  miles  away  respectively. 

The  stand  is  absolutely  the  smallest  and  most  primitive  in 
the  kingdom.  It  is,  in  fact,  nothing  more  than  a  roadside 
cottage,  with  a  sloping  roof  arranged  as  a  grand  stand,  and 
it  need  hardly  be  said  that  it  affords  accommodation  for  very 


THE  YORKSHIRE   MEETINGS       147 

few.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks  Catterick 
Races  are  attended  by  all  the  resident  gentry  of  the  North 
Riding  and  South  Durham,  and  by  many  influential  turfites 
and  county  notabilities  from  even  further  afield.  It  is  em- 
phatically a  carriage  meeting,  and  shortly  after  noon  on 
both  days  of  the  meetings  vehicles  of  all  descriptions  are 
drawn  up  opposite  the  stands  two  and  three  deep,  the  line 
going  almost  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  field.  All  the 
local  gentry  and  their  families  are  present,  and  hospitality 
galore  is  dispensed  among  the  carriages  and  in  private  tents 
which  are  placed  behind  the  line  of  vehicles.  The  scene 
is  always  a  most  animated  one,  and  as  where  the  big-wigs 
lead  the  humbler  ones  will  always  follow,  the  attendances 
are  far  beyond  what  might  be  expected  at  such  an  out- 
of-the-way  place.  From  York,  Leeds,  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
and  other  Northern  towns  special  trains  are  run,  and  as  the 
Middleham  and  Richmond  training  grounds  are  within  a 
few  miles  of  the  course,  while  Malton,  Beverley,  and 
Hambleton  are  within  three  hours  or  so  by  rail,  there  is 
no  difficulty  about  a  supply  of  horses.  Indeed,  considering 
the  strength  of  the  programme,  fields  are  fairly  large,  and 
Yorkshire  trainers  are  fond  of  Catterick,  where  they  can 
generally  get  a  line  of  the  early  Northern  two -year -old 
form. 

The  course  is  situated  in  a  large  field  on  the  southern 
side  of  Catterick  Bridge,  and  is  over  a  mile  round,  with  the 
usual  straight  five-furlong  course.  The  steeplechase  course 
takes  a  wider  circle,  and  is  much  more  "natural"  than 
most  of  the  courses  of  the  present  day,  though  various 
fences  have  perforce  been  altered  in  accordance  with  the 
requirements  of  the  National  Hunt  Committee.  The 
property  is  part  of  the  Brough  Hall  estate  of  Sir  John 
Lawson,  and  that  gentleman  takes  a  fatherly  interest  in  the 
meeting,  which  has  been  kept  alive  almost  entirely  by  his 
exertions.  If  Catterick  is  to  flourish  it  should  have  a 
summer  meeting,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
secure  a  date  in  August,  immediately  after  the  Redcar 
Meeting  and  before  Stockton.  As  has  been  already  stated, 
a  large  portion  of  the  racing  army  has  taken  up  its  quarters 


148  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

in  Yorkshire  at  the  time  named,  and  the  end  of  the  Redcar 
week  is  a  blank  up  North.  Catterick  requires  more  of  the 
sinews  of  war  if  improvements  are  to  be  made  and  the 
programme  strengthened,  and  a  summer  meeting  would 
be  the  surest  means  of  obtaining  the  same.  Its  present 
popularity  is  an  assured  fact,  and  most  emphatically  it  is 
the  real  "  Goodwood  of  the  North." 


CHAPTER  VI 
OTHER  COUNTRY   MEETINGS 

Hybrid  meetings  —  Bath  —  Former  importance  —  Rivalry  with  York  —  Brighton 
Races — The  course — Lewes — The  Southdown  Club— Harpenden — Salisbury 
— The  Bibury  Club— Northampton— Worcester — Yarmouth — Old-time  circuits 
— Present-day  round  of  racing— Chester  Races — The  Chester  Cup— Its  popu- 
larity— The  queer  course — Something  about  the  programme — Lincoln  Races 
— The  Lincolnshire  Handicap — Big  attendance — Victory  of  Clorane — The 
Brocklesby— Liverpool — The  Grand  National  crowd — Concerning  the  Grand 
National  Course— Its  peculiarities— Exceptional  fencing— Cloister's  perform- 
ance— Death  of  The  Lamb — Cloister  and  Manifesto  compared — Other  recent 
winners — Manifesto  and  Ambush  II. — Liverpool  Spring  Meeting — The  Sum- 
mer fixture — The  Autumn  Cup — Carlisle — Croxton  Park — Newton — Warwick. 

SO  much  confined  to  the  parks  or  enclosures  is  the  racing 
of  the  present  day,  that  beyond  Newmarket,  Epsom, 
Ascot,  Goodwood,  Doncaster,  and  York,  and  the  smaller 
Yorkshire  meetings,  a  majority  of  the  old  gatherings  have 
disappeared,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  some  of  those  which 
remain  have  adopted  the  style  of  the  modern  racing  com- 
pany, with  rebuilt  stands  for  the  general  public,  a  club 
enclosure  for  the  more  select  general  public,  and  a  shilling 
a  head  at  the  gate  for  those  who  affect  the  outside  portion 
of  the  course.  Hybrid  meetings  we  may  term  these,  and 
under  that  heading  we  may  include  Chester,  Lincoln,  and 
Liverpool.  There  still  remain  such  open  meetings  as  Bath, 
Brighton,  Harpenden,  Huntingdon,  Lewes,  Salisbury,  North- 
ampton, Worcester,  and  Yarmouth  ;  but  with  the  exceptions 
of  Lewes  and  Salisbury  (now  that  it  has  become  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Bibury  Club)  none  of  them  are  of  much 
account,  and  notably  Bath  and  Brighton  have  both  seen 
better  days,  though  the  reasons  for  their  decline  are  vastly 
different.  Bath  was  once  an  important  fixture,  and  its 
Biennial  for  three-year-olds  and  the  Somersetshire  Stakes 

149 


150  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

were  two  much-coveted  prizes.  Even  now  the  programme 
is  a  fair  one,  but  the  modern  enclosure  has  caused  the  aver- 
age race-goer  to  expect  comfort,  luxury,  and  ease  wherever 
he  goes,  and  Bath  does  not  offer  these  attractions.  It  is 
more  than  three  miles  from  the  station  to  the  Lansdown, 
where  the  races  are  held,  and  the  route  lies  up  a  terribly 
steep  hill,  on  which  a  rickety  old  cab  filled  by  four  stout 
bookmakers  is  very  likely  to  stop  half-way  up.  The  descent 
is  absolutely  dangerous,  and  in  such  times  as  we  are  passing 
through,  when  the  race-goer,  except  in  the  big  weeks,  always 
has  a  choice  of  two  meetings,  it  is  small  wonder  that  Bath 
is  avoided.  Then  the  Biennial  has  disappeared,  and  the 
Somersetshire  Stakes  only  retains  a  tithe  of  its  former  im- 
portance. It  invariably  happens,  too,  that  the  fixture  clashes 
with  York  Spring  Meeting ;  and  though  the  two  places  do 
not  draw  upon  the  same  training  stables,  the  men  who  follow 
the  meetings  prefer  York  and  the  Knavesmire,  with  Don- 
caster  to  follow,  to  the  Lansdown,  with  Salisbury  to  wind 
up  the  week.  Bath  still  retains  a  fair  measure  of  local 
support,  and  the  course  is  a  good  deal  better  than  many 
to  which  much  praise  is  given.  It  is  an  oval  of  nearly  a 
mile  and  three-quarters,  and  is  on  down  land,  grand  old 
turf,  unless  the  races  are  held  during  a  period  of  drought. 
The  meeting  is  handy  for  all  the  Wiltshire,  Berkshire,  and 
Hampshire  stables,  from  which  the  supply  of  horses  is 
chiefly  drawn.  Personally,  I  think  a  visit  to  Bath — where 
there  are  many  first-rate  hotels — in  the  spring  of  the  year 
a  great  treat,  and  I  should  be  glad  to  see  the  meeting  re- 
stored to  its  former  importance.  Perhaps  the  greatest 
stumbling-block  which  it  has  to  contend  with  is  that  in 
the  particular  week  in  which  the  races  are  held,  the  best 
programme  of  the  week  is  that  of  the  Doncaster  Meeting, 
immediately  afterwards.  York  in  itself  is  not  such  a  for- 
midable rival,  but  Doncaster  Spring  Meeting  is  an  important 
fixture,  and  as  the  two  Yorkshire  towns  are  close  together 
they  draw  the  London  racing  element  in  far  greater  numbers 
than  do  Bath  and  Salisbury.  In  this  particular  week  the 
ring  is  stronger  in  the  North  than  it  is  in  the  South,  and 
where  the  ring  is  strongest  there  will  be  the  best  racing. 


OTHER  COUNTRY  MEETINGS       151 

Brighton  Races  were  popularised  by  George  IV.,  and 
considering  that  the  course  is  absolutely  the  worst  in  the 
kingdom,  it  is  wonderful  that  any  of  the  popularity  is  left. 
At  present  two  meetings,  one  in  early  summer — called  the 
Spring  Meeting — and  one  in  August,  are  held,  and  the 
programme  at  the  latter  fixture  includes  several  events  that 
are  well  worth  winning,  notably  the  Brighton  Stakes, 
Brighton  Cup,  and  Brighton  Handicap,  each  of  the  adver- 
tised value  of  £500.  It  is,  however,  not  possible  to  speak 
of  Brighton  Races  at  present  with  much  satisfaction,  and  to 
tell  the  truth  the  place  has  had  a  bad  name  for  many  years 
past.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  efforts  of  the  town 
authorities  will  meet  with  success,  and  that  in  future  visitors 
to  the  Race  Hill  will  not  be  annoyed  by  the  presence  of 
roughs  and  pickpockets,  who  have  for  long  enough  made  the 
place  a  happy  hunting  ground,  and  caused  Brighton  to  be 
a  capital  place  to  live  out  of  during  the  race  week.  The 
long  course,  used  at  present  for  the  Town  Plate,  is  one 
mile  seven  furlongs  and  forty-four  yards,  and  is  rather  in  the 
shape  of  an  equilateral  triangle.  The  first  quarter  of  a  mile 
is  flat,  then  comes  a  gradual  rise  of  half  a  mile,  followed  by 
a  descent  of  about  five  furlongs,  part  of  which  is  very  steep 
indeed.  From  the  dip  there  is  another  rise  to  the  winning- 
post,  and  perhaps  there  is  more  up  and  down  than  in  any 
other  course  which  can  be  named.  Still,  all  the  races  of 
five  and  six  furlongs,  and  even  those  of  a  mile,  are  started 
where  the  ground  is  falling,  therefore  a  quick  beginner  with 
a  nice  turn  of  speed  often  secures  a  great  advantage.  On 
the  whole  the  short  courses  are  very  like  those  at  Epsom, 
and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  same  horses  often 
win  at  both  places.  Not  so  many  years  ago  the  Brighton 
Cup  used  to  be  a  race  of  considerable  importance,  and  such 
celebrities  as  Border  Minstrel,  Isonomy,  Pageant,  Marie 
Stuart,  and  Favonius  are  on  its  roll  of  winners ;  but  lately 
it  has  been  a  mile  handicap  for  three-year-olds,  and  in  its 
new  form  it  does  pretty  well,  though  of  course  its  ancient 
prestige  has  departed. 

Lewes,  on  the  other  hand,  is  just  about  as  prosperous  as 
any  South  of  England  fixture.  It  has  spring,  summer,  and 


152  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

autumn  meetings,  and  is  the  headquarters  of  the  South- 
down Club,  a  nursery  of  gentlemen  riders  which  is  exceed- 
ingly popular  with  a  certain  section  of  race-goers.  At  each 
of  the  three  Lewes  fixtures  sundry  events  are  confined  to 
gentlemen  riders,  and  a  majority  of  these  are  run  over  a 
distance  of  ground.  At  the  same  time  the  programmes  are 
strong  all  round,  and  at  the  Summer  Meeting,  which  closes 
the  Sussex  fortnight,  three  important  races  are  decided,  in 
addition  to  the  gentlemen  riders'  and  plating  events.  The 
three  are  the  Astley  Stakes  for  two-year-olds,  worth  some- 
thing less  than  £1,000,  the  Lewes  Handicap  of  £1,000,  over 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  ground,  and  the  De  Warrenne  Handi- 
cap of  five  furlongs,  which  forms  a  sort  of  consolation 
stakes  to  the  Stewards'  Cup  at  Goodwood.  More  than  one 
beaten  Stewards'  Cup  favourite  has  made  amends  by  win- 
ning the  De  Warrenne  Handicap ;  but  the  Lewes  Handicap 
is  the  more  important  race,  and  at  times  it  has  had  consider- 
able bearing  on  the  Autumn  Handicaps,  having  been  won  in 
1895  by  Marco,  afterwards  successful  in  the  Cambridgeshire, 
and  two  years  later  by  the  Australian  Merman,  who  supple- 
mented this  success  by  winning  the  Caesarewitch.  The 
Lewes  courses  are  well  adapted  for  long-distance  racing, 
what  is  called  the  New  Course  being  two  miles  and  a  half, 
while  the  Old  Course  is  half  a  mile  less.  In  either  there  is 
a  fair  amount  of  give  and  take,  and  both  are  somewhat 
severe  in  their  early  stages.  The  run-in  has  a  curious  dip — 
at  no  great  distance  from  the  winning-post,  and  as  a  rule 
horses  endowed  with  stamina  are  seen  to  advantage. 

Harpenden,  in  Herts,  has  a  rather  nice  course  of  two 
miles  in  circular  form.  It  is  situated  on  common  land,  and 
a  single  one-day  meeting  in  the  early  summer  is  all  it  aspires 
to  now,  the  programme  providing  for  platers  only.  Not 
much  more  can  be  written  in  favour  of  Huntingdon,  where 
there  has  been  no  racing  since  1896.  The  course,  situated 
on  the  Water  Meadows  by  the  river  Ouse,  is  nearly  two 
miles  round,  and  generally  good  going,  but  for  many  years 
the  meetings — generally  held  in  July — have  been  on  the 
down  line,  and  though  Newmarket  is  not  far  away,  runners 
have  been  very  scarce.  In  1896  a  two-days'  programme 


OTHER   COUNTRY   MEETINGS       153 

of  a  dozen  races  attracted  only  fifty-two  horses,  and  it  is 
hardly  probable  that  there  will  be  a  resuscitation. 

Salisbury  Races,  though  of  considerable  antiquity,  have 
never  held  a  high  place  amongst  the  country  meetings,  but 
now  that  the  Bibury  Club  have  chosen  Salisbury  for  their 
new   headquarters   the   meetings   may  acquire   further   im- 
portance.    The  course   is  on   down  land,  and  has  a  fairly 
good,    though    twisting,   two    miles,   which    in    a    measure 
resembles  the  course  used  for  the  Metropolitan   Stakes  at 
Epsom.     There  is  also  a  straight  mile,  and  portions  of  this 
course  are  requisitioned  for  the   sprint  races.     About  the 
Salisbury  programmes  in  the  past  little  need  be  said.     They 
appealed  to   platers,  and  the  runners  were  principally  drawn 
from  local  stables.     What  changes  the  advent  of  the  Bibury 
Club  will  cause  remains  to  be  seen.    For  forty  years  this  club 
fixture  had  been  affiliated  with  Stockbridge  Races,  which 
were  held  in  1898  for  the  last  time.     The  Bibury  Club  and 
Stockbridge  between  them  succeeded  in  carrying  out  a  very 
pretty  three-days'  meeting,  the  first  day  of  which  was  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Bibury  Club,  while  the  two  remaining 
days  were  the  Stockbridge  Meeting  proper.     Two-year-old 
events  of  considerable  value  were  the  real  feature  of  the 
meeting,  the  Champagne   Stakes  and  Bibury  Club  Junior 
Home-bred  Stakes  figuring  on  the  card  of  the  club  day, 
while  the  Mottisfont  Stakes,  the  Stockbridge  Foal  Stakes, 
and  the  Hurstbourne  Stakes  (the  richest  prize  of  the  meeting) 
were  run  on  the  second  and  third  days.     Another  good  race 
at  the  club  meeting  was  the  Hampshire  Stakes  for  three- 
year-olds,  and  for  this,  we  take  it,  is  substituted  the  Pembroke 
Stakes  of  £10  each  with  £400  added.    In  any  circumstances 
it  is  not  likely  that  the  change  of  venue  will  in  any  way 
harm  the  Bibury  Club,  and  it  is  further  quite  certain  that 
Salisbury  Races  will  become  a  much  more  important  fixture 
than   they  have   been   in   the   past.     The   Bibury   Club  is 
immensely   popular  amongst   the    patrician    contingent    of 
racehorse  -  owners,  and   election   thereto  is  eagerly  sought. 
The    club  maintains    its    character    for   exclusiveness,   and 
heart-burnings    are    occasionally   caused    after    the    deadly 
black  ball  has  been  at  work.     Primarily  the  object  of  the 


154  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

club  is  to  encourage  gentlemen  riders,  and  various  events 
are  confined  to  the  amateur.  The  membership  also  em- 
braces many  of  the  best  class  of  owners  apart  from  the 
gentlemen  riders,  and  these  supply  the  entries  for  the  con- 
fined events.  At  times  the  proceedings  become  somewhat 
farcical,  but  the  meeting  is  generally  understood  to  be  a 
relaxation  from  the  sterner  work  of  the  summer  campaign, 
and  it  may  be  mentioned  that  if  anything  out  of  the 
common  occurs,  such  as  a  display  of  indifferent  jockeyship 
or  want  of  knowledge  as  to  the  exact  course  to  be  run, 
it  is  always  in  connection  with  a  minor  event,  in  which 
amateurs  are  riding  at  welter  weights.  In  the  two-  and 
three-year-old  weight-for-age  races  professional  jockeys  are 
always  employed,  and  the  Hurstbourne  Stakes  has  now  and 
again  been  won  by  the  best  youngster  of  the  year. 

All  things  considered,  Stockbridge  was  quite  one  of  the 
pleasantest  meetings  of  the  racing  year.  It  was  held  in 
early  July,  and  the  course,  situated  in  a  lovely  country, 
was  one  of  the  prettiest  and  best  in  the  kingdom.  Not  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the  winning-post  was  the  historic 
training  establishment  of  Danebury,  and  the  middle  day, 
when  the  Stockbridge  Cup  was  run,  drew  the  local  holiday- 
makers  in  force.  Accommodation  in  the  little  town  was  in 
great  demand,  and  many  of  the  cottagers  made  their  year's 
rent  by  subletting  for  the  meeting.  The  old  headquarters 
of  the  club  were  at  the  Grosvenor  Arms  Hotel,  but  many 
of  the  members  took  country  houses  for  the  week,  and  some 
again  stayed  at  Andover,  within  a  seven-mile  drive  of  the 
course,  while  others  journeyed  from  Southampton  each  day. 
The  club  was  very  loath  to  leave  Stockbridge,  but  the  owner 
of  land  forming  a  portion  of  the  course  refused  to  let  it 
again  for  racing  purposes,  so  there  was  no  option. 

Northampton  is  one  of  the  old  meetings  which  has 
managed  to  survive  the  march  of  the  times,  and  which 
has  known  few  changes  for  many  years,  though  some  slight 
improvements  in  the  stands  and  rings  have  been  made. 
Two  meetings  are  held  annually,  one  in  early  spring  and 
one  in  late  autumn,  and  the  former  fixture  is  much  the 
more  important,  the  programme  including  three  races  of 


OTHER  COUNTRY   MEETINGS       155 

note,  viz.  the  Althorp  Park  Stakes  for  two-year-olds,  the 
Earl  Spencer's  Plate,  a  popular  sprint  handicap,  and  the 
Northamptonshire  Stakes,  a  handicap  run  now  over  a  course 
of  a  little  over  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  worth  ;£i,ooo.  The 
course  is  unfortunately  situated  on  common  land,  and 
thus  it  is  a  most  difficult  matter  to  keep  it  in  good  order. 
If  the  season  is  favourable  fairly  good  going  is  afforded, 
but  if  the  weather  is  dry  the  ground  becomes  very  hard 
and  worn.  There  is  also,  as  a  rule,  a  lot  of  crowding  at 
the  turns,  and  an  inside  position,  especially  as  the  sprint 
races  are  run  round  a  big  curve,  is  of  great  value.  The 
autumn  programme  is  not  so  ambitious,  but  fields  are 
generally  of  good  size,  and  perhaps  the  Nurseries  are 
the  chief  attraction.  Both  meetings  are  wonderfully  served 
by  the  L.  and  N.W.  Railway  Company.  They  also  receive 
substantial  local  support,  the  Rothschild  family  being  always 
conspicuous  as  entertainers,  while  the  combination  of  blue 
and  yellow  is  invariably  cheered  when  it  passes  the  post 
first. 

Worcester  Races  are  held  on  the  Pitchcroft,  close  to  the 
town,  and  are  by  no  means  important,  though  they  are 
popular  enough  locally.  Meetings  are  held  in  July  and 
October,  and  at  the  latter  fixture  the  programme  embraces 
several  events  under  National  Hunt  Rules.  The  course 
is  a  somewhat  peculiar  one,  the  two-mile  track  being  some- 
thing like  the  figure  8,  and  the  shorter  course — one  mile 
and  a  quarter — like  a  figure  6.  There  is  a  straight  five 
furlongs  and  a  straight  run-in  to  the  longer  courses  of 
something  like  half  a  mile.  Small  handicaps  and  selling 
races  are  in  the  ascendant. 

Yarmouth,  which  has  one  fixture  in  the  early  autumn, 
is  a  much  more  popular  fixture,  and  is  always  well  patronised 
by  the  Newmarket  trainers,  who  make  the  meeting  an 
excuse  for  a  week  at  the  seaside.  The  course,  situated 
on  the  Sandhills,  and  a  mile  and  a  quarter  round,  is  not 
a  good  one,  but  good -class  horses  are  often  to  be  seen 
running  there  for  inconsiderable  prizes,  and  the  fixture 
has  immense  local  popularity. 

Chester,  Lincoln,  and   Liverpool   are  three  of  the  most 


156  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

important  Northern  fixtures,  and  all  are  of  old  standing, 
though  Chester  has  now  become  an  enclosure,  where  gate 
money  is  charged.  All  through  the  century  Chester 
Races,  which  are  held  in  May,  have  been  exceedingly 
popular,  and  a  clear  date  is  always  given  to  the  fixture. 
This  popularity  is  both  local  and  general,  or  in  other  words, 
Chester  Races  are  supported  by  owners,  trainers,  and  race- 
goers from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  It  is  curious  now 
to  note  the  changes  which  have  occurred  with  regard  to 
many  of  the  meetings  since  the  advent  of  the  railway  era. 
Previous  to  that  time  English  racing  was  carried  on  in 
some  half-dozen  circuits.  In  the  North  there  was  a  York- 
shire Circuit  (which  included  Newcastle-on-Tyne).  A  little 
further  south  there  was  a  circuit  which  embraced  Lancashire, 
Cheshire,  Shropshire,  and  what  may  be  termed  a  Northern- 
Midland  district.  Besides  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Newton,  and 
Chester,  all  of  which  remain,  such  places  as  Preston,  Knuts- 
ford,  Newcastle  (Staffordshire),  Stone,  Stafford,  Uttoxeter, 
Walsall,  Wolverhampton  (before  the  days  of  Dunstall  Park), 
Lichfield,  Shrewsbury,  Stoke,  and  some  seven  or  eight 
Welsh  meetings  were  held,  all  of  which  have  disappeared, 
and  the  Chester  Meeting  is  the  only  fixture  under  Jockey 
Club  Rules  for  half  a  dozen  counties  or  more.  Then  there 
were  a  Western  Circuit,  a  Southern  Circuit,  a  Scotch  Circuit, 
and  an  Eastern  Circuit,  and,  except  when  considerable  stakes 
were  in  question,  Newmarket  -  trained  horses  were  rarely 
taken  into  the  North,  West,  or  North- West  of  the  country. 
When  railway  travelling  became  general  and  the  service 
improved,  say  from  1845  onwards,  these  circuits  were 
gradually  merged  into  each  other,  so  that  at  the  present 
day  we  have  two  sets  of  meetings,  the  greater  and  the  less, 
and  the  greater  absorbs  the  travelling  body  of  race-goers, 
including  the  strongest  part  of  the  ring,  every  week. 

Those  who  follow  the  meetings,  be  they  owners,  trainers, 
jockeys,  bookmakers,  backers,  or  what  not,  begin  their  year 
at  Lincoln  in  March,  and  go  on  from  that  place  to  Liver- 
pool, where  the  Grand  National  is  run.  The  first  week  of 
the  season  is  a  very  heavy  one,  with  racing  from  Monday 
morning  to  Saturday  night,  and  Lincoln  and  Liverpool 


OTHER  COUNTRY  MEETINGS       157 

invariably  have  it  between  them,  unless,  as  very  occasionally 
happens,  the  first  legitimate  racing  day  is  Easter  Monday. 
In  that  case  there  are  two  or  three  minor  fixtures  to 
commence  the  week  with,  and  Lincoln  loses  a  day.  After 
the  first  week  the  order  of  the  meetings  is  not  always  quite 
the  same,  but,  as  a  rule,  Derby  and  Northampton  come  next ; 
and  these,  like  Lincoln  and  Liverpool,  command  a  general 
following.  As  a  general  rule,  but  not  always,  Nottingham 
has  the  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  of  Holy  Week,  and  also 
in  most  years  the  Newmarket  Craven  fixture  follows.  Then 
come  the  Epsom  and  Sandown  Spring  Meetings,  followed  by 
Newmarket  (the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  fixture),  and  after 
that  Chester  and  Kempton,  with  the  last  of  the  Newmarket 
Spring  Meetings  in  the  following  week.  Generally  York 
and  Doncaster  in  the  North,  and  Bath  and  Salisbury  in 
the  South,  are  sandwiched  between  Newmarket  Second 
Spring  and  Epsom  (the  Derby  meeting),  and  the  following 
week  is  devoted  to  minor  Whitsuntide  fixtures,  both  North 
and  South,  with  Manchester  occupying  the  last  four  days. 
There  is  no  need  to  go  further  with  the  list,  which  would 
include  a  host  of  Saturday  fixtures  at  the  Metropolitan 
enclosures.  But  nowadays,  all  through  the  season,  with 
hardly  an  exception,  each  week  is  devoted  to  one  big 
meeting,  or  two  consecutive  ones,  for  which  support  is 
received,  as  regards  both  runners  and  visitors,  from  all  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  The  minor  meetings,  especially  those 
held  at  a  considerable  distance  from  London,  seldom  have 
a  clear  date,  and,  as  naturally  follows,  are  extremely  local 
in  character. 

The  chief  attraction  at  Chester  is  the  Chester  Cup,  a 
handicap  of  two  miles  and  a  quarter,  now  worth  £2,500,  to 
say  nothing  of  Cheshire  cheeses  for  the  three  placed  horses. 
This  race,  which  has  a  most  interesting  history,  is  an  ex- 
traordinary draw.  Where  the  people  come  from  it  is 
difficult  to  say,  but  the  town  is  absolutely  besieged  by 
visitors  from  earliest  morning  on  the  Cup  day.  They  swarm 
about  the  streets,  walking  all  over  the  road,  and  to  proceed 
from  the  station  to  the  course  on  wheels  between  noon 
and  two  o'clock  is  a  most  difficult  job,  the  journey  having 


158  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

generally  to  be  done  at  foot  pace,  unless  the  cabman  goes 
a  mile  or  two  round.  This  race,  with  some  five  or  six 
others  mentioned  elsewhere,  go  to  prove  how  much  more 
deeply  imbedded  in  the  North  is  the  love  of  racing  than 
in  the  South,  for  at  no  Southern  meeting,  except  Epsom, 
can  a  similar  crowd  be  seen,  and,  as  at  York  and  Doncaster, 
it  is  the  horses  which  principally  attract,  though  there  used 
to  be  a  sort  of  fair  in  the  centre  of  Chester  racecourse  until 
it  became  an  enclosed  meeting.  Now  the  fair  is  outside 
the  course,  and  since  a  toll  was  levied  the  crowd  is  not  quite 
so  large.  Still  there  are  many  thousands  of  visitors  to  the 
city  every  Cup  day,  and  I  should  be  inclined  to  place  the 
race  as  the  third  most  attractive  of  the  year,  the  Derby 
and  St.  Leger  claiming  first  and  second  places. 

During  the  middle  of  the  century  the  race  for  the  Chester 
Cup  was  perhaps  the  most  popular  handicap  of  the  year. 
Then  it  fell  away  in  popularity,  and  at  one  time  looked 
like  going  out  altogether.  However,  new  blood  was  in- 
troduced into  the  management ;  the  stands  were  to  a  large 
extent  remodelled,  the  course  enclosed,  and  the  value  of 
the  stakes  increased,  and  the  upshot  is  that  the  race  fairly 
holds  its  own  again.  At  one  time  betting  on  the  Chester 
Cup  was  carried  on  all  through  the  winter,  long  lists  of 
quotations  being  published  almost  daily.  Those  were  the 
days  of  deep-laid  schemes  on  the  part  of  a  certain  section 
of  owners,  when  horses  were  bottled  up  for  the  race  during 
the  whole  of  the  previous  season,  and  when  anything  could 
be  backed  to  win  .£50,000  before  the  weights  appeared. 
The  modern  system  of  racing  hardly  lends  itself  to  this 
kind  of  game,  and  as  ante-post  betting  gradually  decreased 
the  Chester  Cup  became  only  a  second-rate  handicap.  It 
has  now  assumed  its  old  place,  from  a  sporting,  if  not  from 
a  betting  point  of  view,  and  as  a  natural  result  the  class 
of  competitors  has  improved  very  much  in  late  years. 

It  is  impossible  to  write  of  the  Chester  Course  as  a  good 
one,  but  it  has  one  very  strong  point  in  its  favour,  and  that 
is  that  the  horses  are  always  well  in  view,  they  being  less  than 
half  a  mile  from  the  stands  at  any  portion  of  the  race.  The 
course  is  quite  flat  and  circular,  and  only  a  few  yards  over  a 


K      = 
U      u 


OTHER  COUNTRY   MEETINGS       159 

mile  round.  It  is  therefore  necessary  for  the  Cup  horses  to 
start  nearly  two  furlongs  below  the  stands,  which  they  have 
to  pass  twice  before  the  finish.  With  two  and  a  quarter 
miles  to  run,  they  pass  the  winning-post  three  times,  thus 
affording  a  spectacle  which  is  seen  in  no  other  existing  race. 

It  naturally  follows  that  a  great  deal  of  the  race  is  on  the 
turn,  and  in  consequence  we  often  find  that  horses  who  run 
well  in,  or  even  win  the  Chester  Cup,  have  really  no  great 
claims  to  stamina,  as  is  discovered  when  they  come  to  per- 
form on  such  a  straight-away  course  as  the  Caesarewitch,  for 
instance.  At  the  same  time  several  great  horses  have  won 
the  Chester  Cup,  and  those  who  have  won  the  race  as  a  rule 
make  a  bold  show  if  they  run  another  year.  Dare  Devil, 
Pageant,  and  Dalby  each  won  two  years  in  succession,  and 
Leamington  twice,  but  not  in  following  years.  In  the  middle 
of  the  century  the  fields  were  generally  so  large  that  they 
placed  the  horses  in  two  rows  at  the  start,  the  course  not 
being  wide  enough  to  take  them  all  in.  When  Joe  Miller 
won  in  1852  there  were  no  fewer  than  forty-three  starters, 
and  thirty  has  been  exceeded  some  half-dozen  times.  Now- 
adays the  field  is  of  reasonable  proportions,  with  a  strong 
tendency  to  increase  since  the  value  of  the  stake  was  raised. 
Besides  the  Cup  there  are  other  stakes  at  Chester  well  worth 
winning,  notably  the  Dee  Stakes  of  a  mile  and  a  half  for 
three-year-olds,  the  Mostyn  and  Ormonde  Plates  for  two- 
year-olds,  and  the  Great  Cheshire  Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a 
quarter,  worth  ;£i,ooo,  and  a  distinct  feature  of  the  last  day's 
card.  Nearly  all  the  minor  handicaps  are  worth  winning  too, 
and  besides  the  Cup  long-distance  racing  is  encouraged  with 
the  May  Plate,  weight-for-age,  of  one  mile  and  five  furlongs, 
and  worth  about  £300.  This  race  is  also  a  feature  of  the 
last  day's  card,  and  a  few  years  ago  that  good  horse  Clorane 
won  it  easily,  after  having  been  successful  in  the  Great 
Cheshire  Handicap  an  hour  before. 

Lincoln  has  now  three  meetings  during  the  season,  one 
of  three  days  in  the  spring,  which,  in  nineteen  years  out  of 
twenty,  unless  Easter  is  abnormally  early,  is  the  first  meeting 
of  the  racing  year ;  one  of  two  days  in  June,  dating  from 
1900 ;  and  one  of  two  days  in  the  late  autumn,  which  is 


160  THE   ENGLISH    TURF 

generally  held  in  the  week  following  the  Houghton  Meeting. 
This  latter  fixture,  though  it  often  brings  out  plethoric  fields, 
does  not  rank  so  high  as  the  Spring  Meeting.  It  is  probable 
that  much  of  the  importance  which  surrounds  the  first  of 
the  Lincoln  fixtures  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  meeting  is 
the  first  of  the  year,  and  not  because  the  programme  is  a 
particularly  strong  one.  The  Lincolnshire  Handicap  and 
the  Brocklesby  Stakes  are  doubtless  fairly  important  events, 
and  the  former  race,  even  now  that  ante-post  betting  is  so 
little  indulged  in,  commands  a  list  of  quotations  for  six 
or  seven  weeks  previous  to  its  decision.  Take  away  the 
Lincolnshire  Handicap  and  the  Brocklesby  from  the  Lincoln 
card,  and  little  would  remain  but  plating  events.  As  it  is, 
however,  even  these  plating  events,  minor  handicaps,  and 
what  not,  have  special  significance  because  they  are  the  first 
of  the  year.  Nineteen  trainers  out  of  twenty  wish  to  run 
something  at  Lincoln,  if  only  that  they  may  secure  some 
idea  of  the  form  with  a  view  to  trying  the  rest  of  their 
teams,  and,  moreover,  many  horses  which  had  been  stumped 
up  in  the  previous  summer  have  been  in  nice  work  for  many 
weeks  before  Lincoln,  and  their  owners  are  naturally  anxious 
to  get  a  race  out  of  them  before  the  ground  becomes  hard. 
Considering  that  the  meeting  is  held  in  the  last  week  of 
March,  the  going  is  almost  certain  to  be  good.  It  may  of 
course  be  too  soft  and  holding,  and  in  a  dry  spring  it  may 
be  somewhat  firm,  but  under  no  circumstances  can  it  be  very 
hard,  for  the  winter  rains  are  never  out  of  the  ground  so 
early,  and  the  sun  has  not  been  powerful  enough  to  bake 
the  surface  as  it  does  later  on  in  the  year.  Visitors  to 
Lincoln  are  always  prepared  to  find  the  March  winds  in 
full  play,  and  frequently  experience  a  very  bitter  time. 

The  Lincolnshire  Handicap  is  now  decided  on  the  second 
day  of  the  meeting,  and  this  is  another  of  those  races  which 
attract  an  enormous  crowd.  It  is  possible  that  on  a  fine 
day  the  attendance  is  almost  as  big  as  it  is  at  Chester  on 
the  Cup  day,  for  Lincoln  has  a  wide  open  course  over  which 
the  crowd  becomes  scattered  in  all  directions,  whereas  at 
Chester  there  is  much  more  concentration.  The  streets  are 
thronged  from  an  early  hour  on  the  Handicap  day,  and 


OTHER   COUNTRY   MEETINGS       161 

from  about  eleven  o'clock  onwards  there  are  two  continuous 
lines  of  pedestrians  between  the  station  and  the  course,  the 
one  going  by  the  high  road,  and  the  other  by  the  canal  foot- 
path. The  Great  Northern,  Great  Central,  and  Great  Eastern 
between  them  pour  in  a  whole  host  of  special  trains,  and 
though  Lincoln  is  not  situated  in  a  populous  neighbourhood, 
the  train  service  allows  of  an  enormous  visitation  from  the 
huge  industrial  districts  of  South  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire. 
From  London,  too,  many  come  to  see  the  first  big  handicap 
of  the  year,  even  when  they  do  not  stay  for  the  meeting, 
and  from  the  Midland  towns,  Nottingham,  Derby,  and  so 
forth,  there  is  also  a  big  visitation.  For  staying  visitors  the 
accommodation  in  the  town  is  not  very  good.  There  are 
not  many  hotels,  and  what  there  are  are  not  large  enough 
at  race  time,  and  so  lodgings  have  to  be  requisitioned  by 
many,  and  late-comers  have  often  to  pay  far  too  highly. 
Those  who  can  so  arrange  it  stay  at  some  distance  from 
the  town,  and  travel  to  and  fro  each  day ;  but  there  is  no 
denying  the  fact  that  Lincoln  is  an  uncomfortable  place  at 
the  Spring  Meeting,  and  as  far  as  the  better  class  of  racing 
people  are  concerned  half  a  dozen  go  to  Aintree  later  in  the 
week  for  every  one  who  visits  the  Carholme. 

The  Lincoln  Course,  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  town, 
is  one  of  the  best  in  the  kingdom.  It  is  on  sound  old  turf, 
and  is  one  mile  and  six  furlongs  round,  shaped  much  the 
same  as  that  of  Doncaster  Town  Moor.  There  is  a  straight 
mile  (with  a  very  slight  "  elbow  "  in  it)  on  which  the  Lincoln- 
shire Handicap  is  run,  and  the  Brocklesby  and  other  short 
races  are  decided  on  portions  thereof.  The  round  course 
has  a  straight  run-in  of  nearly  half  a  mile,  but  the  turn 
at  the  junction  of  the  two  courses  is  somewhat  abrupt,  and 
it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  half  the  field  go  wide  in 
races  run  on  the  circular  course.  The  last  of  the  finish  is 
downhill,  and  narrows  rather  awkwardly.  On  the  first  day 
of  the  meeting,  the  Batthyany  Stakes,  a  popular  sprint 
handicap,  is  the  chief  attraction,  and  on  the  second  day 
the  Brocklesby  Trial  Plate  always  produces  a  big  field. 
This  is  a  five-  furlong  handicap,  and,  as  its  title  suggests, 
is  placed  on  the  programme  so  that  trainers  by  running 


162  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  trial  horses  of  their  Brocklesby  candidates  may  find  out 
what  form  those  horses  are  in.  No  doubt  many  of  the 
youngsters  for  the  last-named  prize  are  backed,  or  allowed 
to  run  loose,  as  the  case  may  be,  on  the  strength  of  their 
trial  horse's  performance  on  the  previous  day,  and  the  race 
is  a  most  useful  one.  Still,  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap  is 
the  great  event  of  the  second  day,  in  fact  of  the  meeting, 
and  though  the  class  is  on  the  whole  not  quite  so  good 
as  that  to  be  found  in  the  City  and  Suburban  or  Jubilee 
Stakes,  the  race  always  brings  out  some  of  the  best  milers 
in  training,  and  is  seldom  won  by  a  bad  horse.  It  is  an 
accepted  article  of  faith  that  the  race  is  a  most  difficult 
one  for  a  three-year-old  to  win,  but  the  fact  really  is  that 
very  few  three-year-olds  are  entered,  and  in  some  years  not 
a  single  horse  of  that  age  goes  to  the  post.  It  is  therefore 
not  surprising  that  there  are  only  half  a  dozen  young  horses 
on  the  list  of  winners ;  but  if  a  good  three-year-olp!  is  really 
prepared  for  the  race  he  generally  wins,  or  runs  very  well, 
and  not  so  long  ago  three  of  that  age  were  first,  second,  and 
third.  The  best  performance  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap  has 
known  was  that  of  Clorane,  a  magnificent  big  chestnut,  who 
carried  9  st.  4  Ibs.  to  victory  in  a  field  of  eighteen.  No  other 
horse  has  ever  been  successful  with  9  stone  in  the  saddle. 

The  Brocklesby  has  been  in  existence  rather  more  than 
forty  years,  and  lately  it  has  reached  over  ;£i,ooo  in  value. 
It  is  now  cut  down  a  little  in  order  to  conform  with  the 
new  rules,  but  a  big  subscription  will  always  cause  it  to 
remain  a  valuable  race.  Considering  how  early  in  the  year 
it  is  run,  it  is  astonishing  what  a  number  of  good  horses 
have  won  the  stake.  The  Bard,  Donovan,  Semolina,  and 
Minting  Queen  are  four  good  ones  who  made  their  d£but 
at  Lincoln,  but  it  often  happens  that  the  Brocklesby  form  is 
very  bad,  and  it  is  occasionally  won  by  something  that  does 
not  aspire  beyond  plating  form  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
The  reason  for  the  variation  in  class  of  Brocklesby  fields  is 
easily  found.  If  the  weather  has  been  favourable  for  train- 
ing operations  during  the  previous  two  months,  if,  that  is 
to  say,  Lincoln  follows  an  open  winter,  then  a  great  number 
of  two-year-olds  are  ready  to  run.  If,  however,  training 


OTHER  COUNTRY   MEETINGS       163 

operations  have  been  delayed  by  frost  and  snow,  those 
youngsters  which  are  thought  to  be  good  have  not  been 
hurried  forward,  and  if  they  are  sent  to  run  at  Lincoln 
they  are  in  a  backward  condition,  and  unable  to  show  the 
form  they  may  exhibit  later  on.  In  such  years  the  "  small 
and  early"  sort,  who  come  quickly  to  hand  and  do  not 
require  a  great  deal  of  work,  are  generally  seen  to  ad- 
vantage. To  give  an  instance,  Kyoto,  who  won  the  race 
after  the  great  frost  in  1895,  was  a  mere  pony  when  he 
won,  and  undoubtedly  owed  his  success  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  more  forward  in  condition  than  many  of  those  he 
beat.  At  the  autumn  fixture  the  Great  Tom  Stakes,  a 
handicap  on  the  straight  mile,  and  the  Lincoln  Autumn 
Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a  half  are  the  chief  events  of  the 
programme,  and  it  should  be  added  that  Newmarket  horses 
can  easily  reach  the  scene  of  action  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  on  which  they  are  intended  to  run.  Large  fields  at  each 
of  the  fixtures  are  the  rule,  and  if  the  dates  are  not  exactly 
suggestive  of  fine  weather,  they  are  popular  with  owners  and 
trainers,  hence  the  fine  supply  of  runners. 

Liverpool  has  a  unique  position  amongst  the  racecourses 
of  the  present  day,  for  at  two  of  the  three  meetings  which 
are  held  annually  the  programmes  are  of  a  mixed  descrip- 
tion, a  proportion  of  the  races  being  run  under  National 
Hunt  Rules.  Elsewhere  these  hybrid  programmes  have 
been  tried  at  times,  but  have  generally  resulted  in  failure; 
but  Liverpool  is  a  singular  exception,  because  it  possesses 
the  finest  steeplechase  course  in  the  world.  The  Spring 
Meeting  follows  the  Lincoln  fixture,  and  is  invariably  held 
at  the  end  of  March.  From  Lincoln  to  Liverpool,  and  also 
to  Manchester,  the  Great  Central  Railway  run  an  excellent 
service  of  special  trains,  which  leave  Lincoln  about  one 
hour  after  racing  is  over  on  the  Wednesday,  and  land 
their  passengers  at  Liverpool  and  Manchester  in  time  for 
dinner.  As  far  as  the  great  training  centres  are  concerned, 
Liverpool  is  not  particularly  handy,  and  I  have  heard  of 
Southern-trained  horses  taking  a  long  time  over  the  journey. 
The  upshot  is  that,  except  at  the  November  Meeting,  fields 
do  not  rule  very  large,  and  notably  there  is  in  the  spring 


164  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

week  a  great  falling  off  from  Lincoln  as  regards  the  number 
of  runners  for  the  flat  races.  At  the  same  time,  thanks 
chiefly  to  the  extraordinary  interest  which  the  Grand 
National  excites,  Liverpool  Spring  Races  have  immense 
popularity,  and  the  big  steeplechase  draws  sportsmen — 
sportsmen,  be  it  understood,  distinguished  from  sporting  men 
— from  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  On  no  English 
course  do  Irishmen  collect  in  such  force ;  nowhere  else  are, 
say,  fifty  masters  of  hounds  to  be  seen  in  the  same  paddock, 
and  at  no  other  gathering  do  the  cross-country  owners, 
trainers,  and  jockeys  mix  in  such  numbers  with  their 
brothers  of  the  flat.  Even  if  there  were  no  Grand  National 
or  no  jumping  events  at  all  the  programme  is  a  strong  one, 
but  the  big  steeplechase  stands  out  as  its  piece  de  resistance, 
and  there  are  hundreds  of  hunting  men  from  all  over  the 
kingdom  who  make  an  annual  journey  to  Liverpool  for 
the  purpose  of  seeing  the  race  for  the  cross-country  blue 
ribbon,  although  they  are  not  in  the  habit  of  attending  races 
regularly.  And  all  this  crowd  assembles  every  year  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  most  difficult  matter,  even  for 
those  at  the  top  of  the  stands,  to  obtain  a  really  good 
view  of  the  race.  The  start,  the  middle — when  the  horses 
pass  the  stand  for  the  first  time  —  and  the  finish  can  all 
be  seen,  but  unless  the  light  is  particularly  good  it  is 
impossible  to  make  out  the  colours  when  the  field  is  in 
the  "country,"  and  if,  as  sometimes  happens,  there  should 
be  mist  or  a  fall  of  snow,  nothing  can  be  seen  but  the 
three  points  of  the  race  mentioned.  Even  if  the  weather 
is  fine,  the  sides  of  the  course,  and  particularly  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  fences,  are  lined  with  people  through- 
out the  contest ;  thus  when  the  field  have  journeyed  a 
short  way  into  the  "country"  little  can  be  seen  but  the 
bobbing  caps  and  jackets  of  the  riders,  as  their  mounts 
take  the  fences.  Should  the  light  be  fairly  good  the 
second  and  last  circuit  of  the  course  is  the  most  pleasing, 
and  also  much  the  most  exciting  part  of  the  race.  In 
the  first  round  the  runners  are  clustered  together,  and  a 
large  majority  of  them  are  standing  up.  Down  the  side 
stretch  alongside  the  railway  the  cluster  gradually  breaks 


OTHER  COUNTRY  MEETINGS       165 

up,  and  as  a  rule  single  file  becomes  the  order  of  the 
moment  Several  have  fallen  and  others  have  been  pulled 
up,  and  those  which  are  left  in  the  race  are  then  pretty 
easy  to  tell,  though  even  under  very  favourable  weather 
circumstances  the  best  of  experts  sometimes  make  mistakes 
as  to  which  is  which,  and  if  there  are  two  or  three  similar 
colours  amongst  the  runners  the  positions  of  those  left  to 
fight  out  the  finish  are  not  clearly  ascertained  until  the 
flat-race  course  is  reached.  The  fact  of  the  race  being 
four  miles  and  a  half  in  length — 4  miles  856  yards,  to  be 
exact  —  and  therefore  of  about  nine  minutes'  duration, 
keeps  the  excitement  up  to  concert  pitch,  and  this  excite- 
ment becomes  even  greater  on  a  bad  day,  when  the 
colours  cannot  be  properly  distinguished.  Onlookers  are 
kept  in  a  state  of  suspense  far  longer  than  in  an  ordinary 
flat  race,  and  it  is  this  perhaps  which  accounts  for  the 
extraordinary  reception  which  the  winner  always  gets. 
Should  the  successful  horse  be  owned  by  a  popular  man, 
or  be  ridden  by  a  popular  jockey,  or  should  he  have  been 
a  favourite  at  the  start,  the  outburst  is  more  intensified  ; 
and  if,  as  often  happens,  the  race  is  won  by  an  Irish 
horse,  he  is  saluted  with  a  chorus  of  Irish  yells,  which  are 
anything  but  melodious,  but  which  speak  volumes  as  to 
the  estimation  in  which  a  good  steeplechaser  is  held  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Channel. 

The  Liverpool  Course  is  situated  at  Aintree,  a  flat  plain 
about  six  miles  from  the  centre  of  Liverpool,  which  can  be 
reached  in  about  twenty  minutes  by  train,  and  there  is  also 
a  line  of  electric  trams  running.  There  is  a  fine  service  of 
specials,  not  only  from  Liverpool,  but  from  Manchester,  South- 
port,  and  all  the  big  Lancashire  towns,  to  say  nothing  of  York 
and  all  the  long  chain  of  towns  which  lie  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  West  Riding.  From  the  Midlands,  too, 
come  many  specials,  and  even  some  of  the  London  visitors 
go  to  Aintree  and  return  on  the  same  day.  At  Liverpool 
there  is  hotel  accommodation  galore,  much  more  choice  than 
the  racing  man  is  accustomed  to  elsewhere,  and  all  the 
Manchester  and  Southport  hotels  are  invariably  full.  South- 
port  is  not  far  from  the  course,  and  the  specials  from 


166  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

Manchester  do  their  journey  in  about  three-quarters  of 
an  hour,  making  no  stops  and  always  running  up  to  time. 
In  fact  the  traffic  is  admirably  managed  on  all  the  lines, 
and  a  feature  of  the  Grand  National  day  is  that  whole  trains 
of  saloons  are  run  from  Manchester  and  elsewhere,  the 
saloons  having  been  previously  engaged  by  private  parties. 
These  saloon  trains  are  shunted  into  the  sidings  on  arrival 
at  Aintree,  and  numerous  parties  partake  of  luncheon  in 
them  before  they  walk  to  the  course.  And  I  have  often 
thought  that  Mr.  Gladstone,  the  Liverpool  clerk  of  the 
course,  must  be  exceedingly  thankful  that  this  custom  of 
lunching  in  the  train  has  arisen,  because  otherwise  it  would 
be  impossible  to  provide  luncheon  in  the  County  Stand  for 
all  who  would  require  it. 

The  stands  at  Liverpool  are  not  particularly  new,  but 
they  have  been  increased  where  practicable,  and  are  so  well 
arranged  that  they  can  accommodate  thousands  of  visitors. 
The  County  Stand,  formerly  costing  five  but  now  seven 
guineas  a  year,  is  exceedingly  popular,  and  the  local 
magnates,  Lord  Derby,  Lord  Sefton,  and  others,  have  private 
stands.  There  are  also  many  private  boxes,  and  no  meeting 
in  the  kingdom  has  better  support  of  the  right  sort  than 
Liverpool.  Members  of  the  Royal  Family  are  often  present, 
and  it  is  quite  customary  to  see  a  score  at  least  of  members 
of  the  Jockey  Club  amongst  the  company. 

The  course  is  on  light  sandy  soil,  which  dries  quickly  in 
wet  weather,  but  at  times  it  becomes  very  sloppy,  and  it 
is  not  unusual  to  see  pools  of  water  at  the  low  end  of  the 
straight,  near  the  final  turn.  The  Steeplechase  Course  is 
rather  more  than  two  miles  round,  two  circuits  of  the  course 
making  four  miles  and  a  half,  this  distance  being  used  only 
for  the  Grand  National.  The  horses  for  that  race  are  started 
outside  the  paddock  gate,  just  beyond  the  winning-post, 
in  similar  manner  to  the  St.  Leger  horses  at  Doncaster. 
From  the  start  the  field  go  direct  from  the  stands,  the  course 
being  straight  for  something  like  six  furlongs.  It  then  turns 
left-handed,  and  gradually  wends  its  way  to  the  canal.  At 
this  point  the  field  is  broadside  on  to  the  stands,  but  nearly 
a  mile  off,  and  putting  the  light  out  of  the  question,  the  long 


!  I 

H      a 

5   = 

<      u. 

o 


OTHER  COUNTRY   MEETINGS       167 

distance  makes  it  difficult  to  recognise  the  colours  hereabouts 
except  through  very  strong  glasses.      Alongside  the  canal 
they  begin  to  turn  left-handed  again,  and  they  reach  the 
racecourse  six  furlongs  from  home,  the  Steeplechase  Course 
lying  inside  the  flat-racing  track.     There  are  in  all  thirty- 
seven  fences  to  be  jumped,  the  water — which  is  only  taken 
once — being  opposite  the  stands.     Other  well-known  fences 
are  called  "  Beecher's  "  and  "  Valentine's  "  brooks,  but  when- 
ever I  have  inspected  these  I  found  a  couple  of  dry  ditches, 
each  on  the  far  side  of  a  thick  fence  so  big  and  formidable 
that  if  a  horse  clears  it  he  is  almost  bound  to  land  well  over 
the  "  brook  "  beyond.     The  explanation  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  water  of  the  brook  runs  underneath  in  pipes.      Take 
them  all  round  the  fences  are  quite  the  most  formidable  I 
ever  saw.     They  are  stronger,  thicker,  and  much  higher  than 
those  at  any  of  the  Park  meetings,  and  from  the  take-off 
side  only  a  tall  man  can  see  over.      The  "country"  is  a 
real  country,  in  that  the  course  winds  through  a  series  of 
fields,  but  of  course  the  old  natural  fences  have  disappeared 
in  favour  of  "  regulation "  obstacles.     Still,  it  is  a  difficult 
matter  for  a  horse  to  run  out,  there  being  no  temptation  in 
the  shape  of  fences  standing  in  an  open  field,  with  no  con- 
tinuation outside  the  flags.      A  curious  thing  about  these 
Liverpool  fences  is  that  many  horses  who  are  in  the  habit 
of   chancing    their   jumps    elsewhere,   or,   in    other   words, 
brushing  through  the  twigs  at  the  top  of  the  fence,  stand 
up  and  jump  at  Aintree  in  a  totally  different  manner.     They 
seem  to  understand  that  the  obstacles  are  not  to  be  trifled 
with,  and  some  who  appear  to  be  slovens  at  the  Parks  jump 
faultlessly  in  the  Grand  National. 

In  this  race  a  few  years  ago  the  whole  field  were  standing 
up  when  they  passed  the  stands,  i.e.  had  gone  half-way,  and 
in  1898  twenty  out  of  twenty-five  jumped  the  water.  Falls 
in  the  second  round  of  the  race  are  very  common,  but  most 
of  the  horses  then  come  down  because  they  are  pumped  out, 
and  not  on  account  of  the  size  of  the  fences.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think,  indeed,  that  well-schooled  horses  fall  less 
frequently  at  Aintree  than  elsewhere,  and  it  must  be  re- 
membered of  the  Grand  National  that  the  field  is  always 


168  THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

a  large  one,  and  that  in  consequence  many  of  those  who  do 
come  to  grief  have  been  the  victims  of  a  cannon,  or  have 
been  unable  to  clear  something  which  has  fallen  in  front  of 
them.  I  am  of  opinion  that  I  never  saw  the  race  won  in 
such  style  as  when  Cloister  carried  12  st.  7  Ibs.  to  victory 
in  1893.  It  has  been  repeatedly  urged  that  this  grand 
chaser  beat  nothing  of  note,  and  some  of  the  old  writers 
have  declared  that  he  would  not  have  been  in  it  with  such 
as  Alcibiade,  The  Colonel,  Disturbance,  or  even  that  wonder- 
ful grey  The  Lamb,  of  whose  sad  end  at  Baden-Baden  in 
1872  I  was  an  eye-witness.  Nevertheless,  I  submit  the 
opinion  that  Cloister  stands  out  among  steeplechasers,  and 
not  only  does  he  still  hold  the  record  in  company  with 
Manifesto  for  having  won  with  8  Ibs.  more  than  anything 
else  (since  the  race  was  a  handicap),  but  he  won  by  forty 
lengths  in  a  canter,  and  in  November  of  the  following 
year  he  won  the  Sefton  Steeplechase  over  the  same  ground 
with  the  hunting  weight  of  13  st.  3  Ibs.  in  the  saddle.  This 
race  he  won  by  twenty  lengths.  Another  grand  horse  who 
ought  to  have  won  had  not  luck  been  against  him  was  Usna, 
but  when  at  his  best  Cloister  could  probably  have  given 
weight  to  anything,  and  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  1891, 
when  carrying  n  st.  7  Ibs.,  and  only  half  trained  (I  believe 
the  decision  to  start  him  was  only  made  about  ten  days 
before  the  race),  he  was  beaten  just  half  a  length  by  Come- 
away,  and  that  had  not  Cloister's  jockey  been  more  beaten 
than  the  horse,  the  half-length  would  certainly  have  been 
the  other  way.  On  the  occasion  just  referred  to  the  field 
was  probably  the  best  which  has  ever  gone  to  the  post.  It 
included  no  fewer  than  four  past  winners  of  the  race,  viz. 
Ilex,  Roquefort,  Gamecock,  and  Voluptuary,  the  actual 
winner,  Comeaway,  and  two  which  were  to  win  in  the  future, 
Cloister  and  Why  Not  to  wit,  and  five  of  the  Grand  National 
winners  filled  the  first  four  places  and  the  sixth.  A  notable 
thing  about  these  Liverpool  steeplechase  winners  is  that 
nearly  all  of  them  are  bred  in  Ireland.  We  have  to  go  back 
to  1888,  when  Playfair,  by  Ripponden,  won,  to  find  an 
English -bred  horse  a  winner.  The  winner  is  always  a 
gelding,  unless  a  mare  happens  to  do  the  trick  ;  and  another 


OTHER   COUNTRY   MEETINGS       169 

curious  circumstance  about  the  race,  or  rather  about  the 
horses  which  take  part  in  it,  is  that  so  many  of  them  remain 
sound  enough  to  be  kept  in  training  until  they  are  a  dozen 
years  old  or  more.  Good  steeplechasers,  like  good  hunters, 
often  last  for  eight  or  ten  seasons,  and,  to  give  instances, 
Gamecock  was  winning  races  when  he  was  sixteen  years  old, 
Roquefort  and  Why  Not  each  ran  in  the  Grand  National  at 
thirteen,  the  latter  being  that  age  when  he  won  in  1887, 
Cloister  was  ten  years  old  when  he  won,  and  Frigate  had 
taken  part  in  the  race  four  times  before  she  was  success- 
ful in  1889.  As  for  that  wonderful  horse  Cloister,  he 
was  rising  twelve  when  he  accomplished  his  marvellous 
feat  in  the  Sefton  Steeplechase  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made. 

The  Grand  Nationals  of  1899  and  1900  have  been  of 
a  somewhat  sensational  character,  and  in  each  of  them  a 
fine  performance  was  achieved  by  a  really  high-class  horse. 
In  1899  Manifesto,  who  had  won  in  1897  under  n  st.  3  Ibs., 
equalled  Cloister's  record  by  carrying  12  st  7  Ibs.  to  victory. 
He  did  not,  however,  spreadeagle  his  field  in  the  Cloister 
fashion,  and  between  the  last  two  fences  he  went  through 
a  protracted  struggle  with  the  five-year-old  Ambush  II.,  who 
up  to  that  point  was  holding  a  very  rosy  chance.  This  was 
the  crucial  point  of  the  race,  and  when  the  younger  horse 
dropped  away  beaten,  Manifesto  had  matters  all  his  own 
way  in  the  run  home.  Ambush  II.  was  not  persevered  with 
after  his  jockey  found  that  he  could  not  beat  Manifesto,  and, 
being  eased  up,  finished  seventh. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  Ambush  II.  is  owned  by  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  after  his  gallant  fight  when  a  five-year- 
old  he  came  to  be  generally  considered  as  a  future  Grand 
National  winner.  In  1900,  however,  he  was  handicapped  at 
1 1  st.  3  Ibs.,  so  that  he  was  asked  to  meet  Manifesto  on 
9  Ibs.  worse  terms  than  what  they  had  run  at  a  year  before. 
The  task,  even  allowing  for  the  natural  improvement  which 
the  Prince's  chaser  would  make  from  five  to  six  years  old, 
seemed  a  heavy  one,  but  the  horse  showed  capital  form  on 
the  few  occasions  of  his  running  during  the  winter,  and  in 
the  race  he  fairly  turned  the  tables  on  his  conqueror  of 


170  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

twelve  months  before,  winning  for  the  Prince  of  Wales  his 
first  Grand  National  amidst  such  a  scene  of  excitement  as 
Aintree  had  never  known  before.  The  Prince  of  Wales  is 
the  only  owner  who  has  won  both  the  Derby  and  the  Grand 
National.  Manifesto  ran  a  great  horse  in  this  race,  being 
beaten  by  a  neck  only  by  Barsac  for  second  place,  though 
weighted  with  1 2  st.  13  Ibs. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Liverpool  Spring  Meeting  the 
programme  is  always  a  strong  one ;  in  fact,  I  have  often 
thought  that  if  the  Liverpool  prizes  were  offered  at  Lincoln 
there  would  be  so  many  runners  that  the  fields  would  have 
to  be  started  in  double  line.  Thursday's  chief  prizes  are 
the  Molyneux  Stakes  for  two-year-olds,  and,  until  cut  down 
in  accordance  with  the  new  rules,  worth  nearly  £1,000;  the 
Prince  of  Wales'  Plate,  a  six-furlong  handicap,  of  about 
£700;  the  Union  Jack  Stakes,  a  three-year-old  weight-for- 
age race,  worth  from  £600  to  £1,000,  according  to  the  sub- 
scription ;  the  Duchess  of  York  Plate,  a  £300  mile  handicap ; 
and  the  Altcar  Four -year -old  Steeplechase,  with  minor 
events.  On  Friday,  besides  the  Grand  National,  there  are 
the  Sefton  Park  Plate  of  about  £500  for  two-year-olds ;  the 
Bickerstaffe  Stakes  of  much  the  same  value  for  three-year- 
olds  ;  the  Hylton  Handicap  of  £600,  six  furlongs ;  and  the 
Stanley  Five-year-old  Steeplechase,  with  of  course  one  or 
two  less  important  items.  On  the  Saturday  there  are  the 
Liverpool  Spring  Cup,  a  handicap  of  a  mile  and  three 
furlongs;  the  Stanley  Stakes,  for  two-year-olds,  of  £500; 
the  Liverpool  Hurdle  Handicap  of  about  £400;  and  the 
Champion  Steeplechase.  These  Liverpool  Cups  are  a  great 
source  of  attraction  at  Aintree.  There  is  one  at  each  of 
the  three  meetings,  all  being  handicaps,  and  all  run  over 
the  same  course — one  mile  and  three  furlongs.  Roughly 
speaking,  they  are  worth  about  £1,000  apiece,  sometimes 
more,  and  the  course  is  a  very  pretty  one.  The  start  takes 
place  at  the  same  spot  used  for  the  despatch  of  the  Grand 
National  horses,  but  the  Flat  Course  is  well  inside  the 
Steeplechase  Course,  and  the  field  are  always  in  view  of 
the  stands.  In  formation  the  Cup  Course  is  pear-shaped, 
the  field  going  down  one  side  of  the  pear  for  half  a  mile, 


OTHER   COUNTRY   MEETINGS       171 

then  rounding  a  loop,  the  head  of  the  pear,  for  three  furlongs, 
and  travelling  back  half  a  mile  up  the  reverse  side. 

The  summer  fixture  is  confined  to  two  days  and  is  held 
in  July,  generally  in  the  week  before  Goodwood.  There  are 
of  course  no  jumping  events  on  the  programme,  and  the 
Summer  Cup  is  the  principal  attraction.  As  in  the  spring, 
however,  the  card  is  a  strong  one,  and  besides  the  Cup  it 
includes  the  St.  George's  Stakes  for  three-year-olds,  worth 
about  £2,000,  run  on  the  Cup  Course,  the  Knowsley  Dinner 
Stakes,  also  for  three-year-olds,  and  run  on  a  nine-furlong 
course,  the  Lancashire  Breeders'  Produce  Stakes  for  two- 
year-olds,  one  of  the  most  valuable  two-year-old  prizes 
of  the  year,  and  such  short  handicaps  as  the  Molyneux 
and  Croxteth  Plates,  either  of  which  is  well  worth  winning, 
and  both  of  them  affording  good  public  trials  for  horses 
engaged  in  the  Goodwood  Stewards'  Cup.  In  spite  of  the 
richness  of  its  stakes  the  Summer  Meeting  does  not  com- 
mand such  an  attendance  as  do  the  earlier  and  later  fixtures, 
and  the  date  is  hardly  a  good  one  for  many  of  the  Turf 
magnates,  the  meeting  being  often  sandwiched  between  the 
Eclipse  meeting  at  Sandown  and  Goodwood.  In  November 
the  meeting  extends  over  three,  and  sometimes  four  days, 
and  again  a  wonderful  programme  is  issued.  To  begin  with, 
there  are  several  minor  jumping  events,  in  addition  to  the 
Sefton  Steeplechase,  which  is  a  three-mile  handicap,  and 
almost  invariably  brings  out  some  of  the  best  cross-country 
horses  in  training.  These  minor  steeplechases  at  Liverpool 
have  a  special  attraction,  as  they  are  really  nurseries  for 
aspirants  to  Grand  National  honours,  and  many  promising 
young  Irish  horses  are  bought  out  of  them  at  long  figures, 
with  a  view  to  performing  in  the  greater  Liverpool  steeple- 
chase a  year  or  two  later.  The  Autumn  Cup  generally 
secures  a  market  for  about  a  fortnight  before  it  is  run,  and, 
being  one  of  the  last  big  betting  races  of  the  year,  it  always 
arouses  a  fair  amount  of  interest.  The  nurseries  too  are 
an  attraction,  and  almost  invariably  bring  out  large  fields, 
and  there  are  such  handicaps  as  the  Croxteth  Plate  of  five 
furlongs,  the  Stewards'  Plate  of  six  furlongs,  and  the  Lanca- 
shire Handicap  of  a  mile  to  swell  the  list.  The  Sefton 


172  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Steeplechase  usually  points  to  certain  horses  as  being  likely 
performers  in  the  Grand  National  of  the  next  spring,  and, 
all  things  considered,  the  meeting  is  the  most  interesting 
of  the  late  autumn,  after  racing  at  Newmarket  is  over  for 
the  year. 

Other  old-established  English  meetings  which  have  not 
been  alluded  to  are  Carlisle,  Croxton  Park,  Newton,  and 
Warwick.  The  first-named  is  the  only  Cumberland  fixture, 
and  has  fair  local  popularity.  The  Summer  Meeting,  which 
is  held  in  the  week  following  Newcastle  (Gosforth  Park) 
Summer  Meeting,  is  the  most  important,  but  nineteen- 
twentieths  of  the  support  is  forthcoming  from  the  Northern 
stables,  though  occasionally  a  Newmarket  horse  is  sent 
on  from  Newcastle  to  run  in  the  Cumberland  Plate.  This 
race  is  a  £500  handicap,  now  run  over  a  mile  and  five 
furlongs,  and  it  generally  takes  a  bit  of  winning.  The 
course  is  oval,  and  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  round. 
Croxton  Park  Meeting  is  of  purely  local  interest,  and  the 
long  programme  always  includes  several  races  under  N.H. 
Rules.  The  fixture  is  confined  to  one  day,  and  this  is 
perhaps  enough,  as  the  scene  of  action  is  a  long  way 
from  a  railway  station,  and  by  no  means  easy  to  reach. 
The  stakes  are  of  small  value.  Newton  Races  were  held  in 
July,  and  also  formed  what  may  be  termed  a  local  fixture. 
The  place,  however,  within  a  dozen  miles  of  Manchester, 
and  twice  that  distance  of  Liverpool,  used  to  draw  a  large 
crowd,  and  was  popular  enough.  No  great  stakes  were  run 
for,  but  lately  it  was  decided  to  remove  the  fixture  to  the 
Haydock  Park  enclosure,  which  is  in  the  same  neigh- 
bourhood, and  where  a  fair  amount  of  success  has  been 
achieved.  Warwick  Races  are  of  considerable  antiquity,  but 
their  present  importance  is  not  very  great,  arid  this  especially 
applies  to  the  Spring  and  September  Meetings,  each  of 
which  covers  two  days.  In  November,  however,  Warwick 
has  in  most  years  a  clear  three-day  meeting,  and  though  the 
stakes  are  of  no  great  value,  this  particular  meeting  attracts 
a  host  of  runners,  it  being  the  last  but  one  of  the  racing 
year.  The  Midland  Counties  Handicap  of  £500,  one 
mile,  is  the  most  important  race  from  a  monetary  point 


OTHER  COUNTRY  MEETINGS       173 

of  view,  but  the  nurseries  and  the  selling  races  are  the 
great  draw,  these  being  invariably  contested  by  large  fields, 
therefore  productive  of  spirited  betting.  The  course  is 
about  a  mile  and  three-quarters  round,  with  a  rise  towards 
the  mile-post,  and  a  slight  drop  afterwards.  The  "bend" 
is  less  than  half  a  mile  from  home,  and  consequently  there 
is  often  a  good  deal  of  scrambling.  A  club  has  been  formed, 
and  all  the  Warwick  meetings  are  popular ;  but  undoubtedly 
the  place  has  drawbacks,  one  of  which  is  that  the  low-lying 
course  is  frequently  visited  by  mists  which  make  it  difficult 
or  impossible  to  see  what  is  taking  place.  Then  the  paddock 
is  at  such  a  low  level  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  see  out 
of  it,  and  though  the  stands  have  been  improved  of  late 
years,  they  still  compare  badly  with  many  to  be  found  at 
the  modern  enclosures. 


CHAPTER  VII 
MODERN  ENCLOSED  COURSES 

Rise  of  mpdern  enclosures — Sandown  Park — Ladies  as  race-goers — Inaugurators 
of  mammoth  prizes— The  Eclipse  Stakes  considered— Winners  of  the  Eclipse 
Stakes — Orme  and  La  Fleche — Orme's  St.  Leger — George  Barrett's  orders — 
Field  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes  in  1894 — Value  thereof — Other  events  run  at 
Sandown — As  to  the  course — The  Steeplechase  Course — Racing  at  Kempton 
Park — Its  principal  meetings — The  Jubilee  Stakes — Bendigo  and  Minting — 
Other  winners  of  the  race— Victor  Wild — The  people's  horse — His  great 
popularity — Clwyd's  victory — Discreditable  circumstances — Hurst  Park — 
Always  good  going — Eager  and  Royal  Flush — Gatwick  and  Lingfield — Cup 
course  at  Gatwick — Harrow's  record — Alexandra  Park  Races — Portsmouth 
Park — Midland  enclosures — Derby  fixtures — Leicester — Objection  to  racing 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  residents — Colwick  Park— Birmingham — Well- 
placed  stands — Upper  section  of  Turf  world — Manchester — Hotel  accommoda- 
tion— The  racecourse — St.  Angelo's  mishap — Stories  of  the  late  Duchess  of 
Montrose — Programmes — Manchester  Cup — Winners  of  Lancashire  Plate — 
Gosforth  Park,  its  grand  course — The  Northumberland  Plate — Barcaldine — 
His  great  performance — Underhand— Caller  Ou — The  Seaton  Delaval  Stakes 
— Scottish  racing. 

THE  modern  racing  enclosure  is  a  product  of  the  last 
quarter  of  the  century,  and  with  the  general  public  it 
has  secured  an  enormous  amount  of  popularity.  It  differs 
from  the  old-fashioned  country  course  in  that  it  is  fenced 
in  and  everyone  made  to  pay,  instead  of  being  placed  on 
common  or  public  land,  where  a  charge  could  only  be 
levied  on  those  who  wished  to  go  into  the  enclosed  places 
— grand  stand,  paddock,  and  so  forth.  The  old-style 
racecourse  was  either  "  run  "  by  a  Corporation  or  by  a  few 
private  individuals.  The  Newmarket  meetings  have  been 
under  the  control  of  the  Jockey  Club  ever  since  that  body 
came  into  existence.  The  club  find  the  money  for  the 
stakes,  beyond  what  is  subscribed  by  owners ;  they  own 
the  land,  and  as  far  as  their  own  eight  meetings  are  con- 

174 


m  • 

MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     175 

cerned  they  stand  in  the  same  position  as  the  modern 
racing  company  does  with  regard  to  its  own  particular 
meetings,  with  the  important  difference  that  the  Jockey 
Club  is  not  working  for  a  dividend,  but  solely  in  the  interests 
of  racing.  Epsom  is  now  worked  by  a  syndicate  (or  com- 
pany), under  the  control  of  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club. 
Ascot  can  boast  of  Royal  ownership,  the  management  of 
everything,  including  the  funds,  being  in  the  hands  of 
trustees  and  the  Master  of  Her  Majesty's  Buckhounds. 
Goodwood  is  the  private  venture  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond, 
and  the  York  and  Doncaster  meetings  are  both  managed 
by  the  Corporations  of  those  towns.  The  modern  enclosure 
is,  however,  invariably  worked  by  a  company,  or  syndicate, 
and  some  of  them  have  earned  very  large  dividends  for 
their  lucky  shareholders.  Some  few  years  ago  the  Jockey 
Club  stepped  in  and  passed  a  rule  that  no  higher  dividend 
than  ten  per  cent,  should  be  paid  by  new  racing  companies, 
and  this,  with  a  very  flourishing  concern,  has  had  the  effect 
of  raising  the  value  of  the  stakes.  It  may  be  asked  by 
what  power  the  lawgivers  of  the  Turf  were  enabled  to  make 
such  a  regulation,  and  the  answer  is  found  in  the  condition 
that  "  all  racecourses  must  be  licensed,  and  all  meetings 
sanctioned,  by  the  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club.'*  It  is 
therefore  within  the  powers  of  the  club  to  refuse  a  licence. 
Sandown  Park,  established  in  1875,  was  tne  6rst  modern 
enclosure  laid  out  with  a  view  to  racing  only.  Some  enter- 
prising spirits  secured  the  park,  built  stands,  obtained  a 
licence,  and  set  about  holding  race  meetings.  This  venture 
was  a  purely  sporting  one,  the  object  of  its  promoters  being 
to  provide  good  racing  near  London,  and  not  to  make  a 
huge  profit.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  a  7  per  cent,  dividend 
has  never  been  exceeded  by  the  Sandown  Company;  and 
it  should  be  noted  that  they  have  never  attempted  to  cater 
for  the  bank  holiday  mob,  nor  reduced  the  charge  of 
half  a  crown  that  is  levied  for  admission  to  the  park,  as 
evidence  that  money-making  has  never  been  their  first 
object.  To  obtain  plenty  of  money  to  spend  on  their 
programme,  and  also  on  the  comfort  of  their  visitors,  no 
doubt  they  attempted,  and  it  is  most  satisfactory  to  know 


176  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

that  their  efforts  have  been  crowned  with  success.  Sandown 
has  long  been  a  great  accomplished  fact,  and,  in  spite  of 
its  possessing  a  very  moderate  course,  it  provides  some  of 
the  best  racing  of  the  year,  and  is  attended  by  all  that  is 
noblest  and  highest  among  the  many  sections  of  the  racing 
army.  That  Sandown  encouraged  ladies  to  go  racing  by 
inaugurating  the  club  system  is  undoubted.  Before  the 
advent  of  the  modern  enclosure  ladies  went  to  Ascot,  where 
there  were  the  Royal  enclosure  and  the  lawn  to  accom- 
modate them ;  a  few  went  to  the  boxes  at  Epsom  ;  a  good 
many  went  to  Goodwood  ;  but  to  Newmarket  not  one  in 
twenty  of  the  present  number,  and  at  some  of  the  meetings 
a  lady  was  never  seen  in  the  public  enclosures,  though  a 
few  were  to  be  found  in  carriages,  or  in  the  old-fashioned 
"  stewards'  stands."  Sandown,  when  it  formed  its  club, 
provided  for  the  admission  of  ladies  by  giving  two  ladies' 
badges  to  subscribers  at  the  higher  rate,  and  allowing  those 
members  who  paid  the  lower  rate  to  take  in  two  ladies  on 
payment  of  a  small  sum.  (The  old  five-guinea  subscription, 
without  ladies'  badges,  has  been  done  away  with.)  This 
example  was  followed  by  all  the  other  clubs  as  they  came 
into  existence,  and  now  there  are  as  many  women  as  men 
in  a  club  enclosure,  if  the  weather  be  fine,  and  many  of  them 
even  frequent  the  winter  meetings  where  steeplechasing  and 
hurdle-racing  are  to  be  seen. 

The  Sandown  Park  executive  were  the  inaugurators  of 
the  ;£  1 0,000  race,  the  Eclipse  Stakes,  won  by  Bendigo  in 
1886,  being  the  first  prize  of  this  magnitude  ever  run  for 
in  England.  Other  racecourse  companies  followed  suit,  but 
their  ventures  in  this  line  were  of  short  duration,  and  now 
the  Eclipse  Stakes  is  the  only  ten-thousand-pounder  of  the 
racing  year  which  is  offered  by  a  modern  enclosure.*  Yet, 
while  similar  events  at  Leicester,  Manchester,  and  Kempton 
Park  had  their  brief  day  and  disappeared,  the  Jockey  Club, 
who  saw  great  merit  in  the  monster  prize,  in  1894  estab- 

*  In  1900  the  Century  Stakes  of  two  miles,  value  ^"10,000,  was  run  at 
Sandown  Park,  and  won  by  Lord  Durham's  Osbech.  Unfortunately  for  the 
best  interests  of  racing,  the  race  was  not  a  success  financially,  and  it  has  been 
discontinued. 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     177 

lished  a  couple  of  £10,000  stakes  at  Newmarket,  the 
conditions  of  which  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the 
Eclipse  Stakes.  Whether  these  mammoth  prizes  are  for 
the  general  good,  or,  to  put  it  in  the  hackneyed  phrase, 
are  likely  to  improve  the  breed  of  racehorses,  is  a  much- 
debated  question,  and  one  about  which  a  good  deal  may 
be  said  either  way.  If  one  refers  to  the  record  of  races 
past  it  will  be  found  that  in  five  years  out  of  six  the 
Eclipse  and  every  similar  stake  has  been  won  by  a  good 
horse,  very  often  indeed  by  the  best  in  training  at  the 
moment,  and  more  frequently  by  the  best  of  the  year; 
but,  as  a  set-off,  we  have  the  fact  that  when  a  really  high- 
class  four-year-old  has  been  entered  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes, 
or  for  the  Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  he  is 
not  as  a  rule  trained  for  the  Ascot  Cup ;  and  if  it  happens 
— and  this  is  nearly  always  the  case  with  good  horses 
nowadays — that  he  is  taken  out  of  training  at  the  end  of 
his  third  season,  he  goes  to  the  stud  without  having  shown 
in  public  that  he  could  stay  a  Cup  Course.  Among  the 
eleven  Eclipse  Stakes  winners  are  two  glorious  exceptions 
to  this,  viz.  Isinglass  and  Persimmon,  each  of  whom  won 
the  Ascot  Gold  Cup  and  the  Sandown  Eclipse  Stakes  as 
well.  Isinglass  won  the  Eclipse  Stakes  as  a  four-year-old 
and  the  Ascot  Cup  a  year  later ;  but  Persimmon  supple- 
mented his  Ascot  triumph  by  winning  at  Sandown  only  five 
weeks  later ;  and  success  in  two  such  dissimilar  races  within 
so  short  a  space  of  time  stamps  the  Prince  of  Wales'  horse 
as  quite  one  of  the  best  of  modern  thoroughbreds. 

The  real  drawback  to  the  Eclipse  and  similar  stakes  is  that 
the  distances  run  are  not  long  enough  to  try  the  best  quali- 
ties of  a  racehorse.  I  cannot  assert  that  any  of  these  prizes 
have  been  won  by  a  mere  sprinter,  but  most  certainly  some 
of  them  have  fallen  to  horses  who  could  not  travel  an  inch 
further  than  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  and  I  think  it  should 
not  be  possible  for  any  such  great  prize  or  prizes  to  be 
won  by  a  non-stayer.  By  a  non-stayer,  in  this  connection, 
I  mean  a  horse  that  could  not  stay  at  least  a  mile  and  six 
furlongs — the  length  of  the  St.  Leger  Course. 

One  tendency  of  these  valuable  races  that  is  by  no  means 


178  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

to  be  despised  is  the  healthy  competition  which  they 
engender.  For  instance,  since  their  institution  the  Epsom 
Derby,  which  showed  an  inclination  to  decrease  in  value, 
has  been  guaranteed  a  value  of  £5,000.  There  has  also 
been  a  material  rise  in  the  value  of  many  important 
handicaps,  such  as  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap,  Chester  Cup, 
City  and  Suburban,  and  Ascot  Stakes,  which  can  be  traced 
to  the  institution  of  the  ten-thousand-pounders,  although 
they  do  not  come  directly  into  competition  with  these  long- 
established  races.  At  first  clerks  of  courses,  in  their  eager- 
ness to  be  early  in  the  field,  went  theAvrong  way  to  work  for 
the  good  of  our  thoroughbreds  by  giving  mammoth  prizes 
for  two-year-olds,  but  timely  legislation  has  put  a  stop 
to  this. 

As  stated,  the  first  winner  of  the  Eclipse  Stakes  was  that 
good  horse  Bendigo,  who  also  won  such  races  as  the  Lincoln 
Handicap,  Cambridgeshire,  Hardwicke  Stakes  at  Ascot,  and 
Champion  Stakes  at  Newmarket — a  horse  of  the  hardiest 
description,  who  was  kept  in  training  until  he  was  seven 
years  old,  but  who,  strange  to  say,  has  not  been  a  stud 
success.  Bendigo,  who  was  a  most  popular  horse  with  the 
public,  won  in  heavy  rain,  but  it  is  questionable  whether  a 
greater  concourse  of  people  has  ever  been  gathered  together 
at  Sandown  since,  and  most  certainly  I  never  saw  a  longer 
line  of  carriages  there  than  on  that  day.  Below  the  stands  the 
lines  extended,  on  either  side  of  the  course,  nearly  down 
to  the  palings  at  the  bottom,  and  in  spite  of  the  miserable 
weather,  the  demonstration  which  greeted  the  winner  was  an 
extraordinary  one,  though  it  has  since  been  surpassed,  as  I 
shall  presently  tell.  In  1887  the  race  did  not  fill,  and  in 
1888  it  was  won  by  a  moderate  horse  in  Orbit,  who  was 
followed  home  by  a  brace  of  more  moderate  ones,  Ossory 
and  Hartley.  This,  by  the  way,  was  a  year  of  very  moderate 
three-year-olds,  the  Two  Thousand  being  won  by  Enterprise, 
the  Derby  by  Merry  Hampton,  and  the  St.  Leger  by  Kil- 
warlin.  In  1889  Ayrshire  was  successful,  and  in  1890  the 
race  was  again  void.  Since  that  time  no  more  blanks  have 
to  be  recorded,  and  the  winners  have  all  been  good  or  very 
good  horses.  In  1891  the  race  produced  a  sensation,  as 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     179 

Common,  on  whom  odds  of  2  to  I  were  laid,  could  finish 
third  only  to  Surefoot  and  Gouverneur,  Mr.  Merry's  sensa- 
tional horse  winning  by  a  length,  while  the  French  three- 
year-old  just  beat  the  triple  classic  winner  of  the  year  for 
second  place.  In  all  probability  the  pace  was  not  strong 
enough  for  Common  in  the  early  part  of  the  contest. 
Surefoot  at  that  time  was  possessed  of  a  shockingly  bad 
character,  and  a  long  price  was  offered  against  him  at  the 
start.  In  the  paddock,  before  the  race,  he  was  almost  un- 
manageable, and  in  going  through  the  plantation  on  his  way 
to  the  course  he  reared  up  and  pawed  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
with  his  forelegs,  the  exhibition  being  one  of  the  most 
curious  ever  seen  on  a  racecourse.  Nor  did  his  chance  look 
a  good  one  in  running  until  the  field  were  approaching  the 
distance.  Then  all  of  a  sudden  Surefoot  shot  out  on  the 
outside,  and,  banging  up  the  hill  at  terrific  speed,  settled 
the  two  three-year-olds  in  great  style.  It  was  one  of  those 
lightning-flashes  that  we  occasionally  see  performed  by  a 
good  but  wayward  horse ;  but  had  the  winning-post  been 
a  little  further  away  the  result  would  have  been  different, 
as  Surefoot  was  contracting  his  action  and  stopping  fast  in 
the  last  fifty  yards.  Mr.  Merry's  horse  carried  extraordinary 
substance  and  always  ran  best  when  big  in  condition,  but 
he  was  not  a  genuine  stayer,  and  he  certainly  would  never 
have  won  the  Eclipse  Stakes  at  a  mile  and  a  half.  At 
the  same  time  there  is  no  particular  reason  why  Surefoot, 
a  son  of  Wisdom  out  of  a  Galopin  mare,  should  not  sire 
stayers,  for  it  is  quite  possible  that  his  want  of  stamina 
on  a  racecourse  was  in  a  great  degree  caused  by  the  fact 
that  he  took  a  lot  out  of  himself  by  fighting  against  his  jockey 
and  by  otherwise  exciting  himself  whenever  he  ran. 

In  1892  was  witnessed  the  most  exciting  Eclipse  Stakes 
which  has  yet  taken  place.  Most  of  my  readers  will 
remember  that  a  colt  and  filly  trained  at  Kingsclere— 
Orme  and  La  Fleche — were  the  best-class  three-year-olds 
of  the  year.  Nor  will  it  be  forgotten  that  Orme  was  at- 
tacked by  mysterious  illness  during  the  spring,  and  was 
unable  to  take  part  in  the  Derby,  in  which  Sir  Hugo  un- 
expectedly beat  La  Fleche.  That  Orme  was  poisoned  must 


180  THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

be  taken  as  a  fact,  the  evidence  in  favour  of  this  theory, 
as  set  out  in  John  Porter's  book  Kingsclere,  being  over- 
whelming. It  was  in  April  that  the  horse  was  at  death's 
door,  but,  thanks  to  a  strong  constitution,  he  was  sufficiently 
recovered  to  run  at  Sandown  in  mid- July,  though  it  should 
be  added  that  he  was  still  short  of  flesh  and  muscle,  and  in 
nothing  like  the  condition  in  which  he  was  subsequently  seen. 
However,  the  opposition  did  not  seem  very  strong  and 
Orme  started  favourite,  while  Orvieto  and  Gouverneur — 
second  to  Surefoot  in  the  preceding  year — were  also  well 
backed.  As  they  came  up  the  straight,  Orvieto,  who  was 
on  the  extreme  right,  hung  to  the  right,  and  thus  had  to 
gallop  for  something  like  a  hundred  yards  in  long  grass, 
besides  giving  away  probably  a  length  or  two  in  extra 
distance.  He  had  gone  off  the  mown  course,  and  it  is 
quite  on  the  cards  that  this  lost  him  the  race.  As  it  was 
he  fought  out  a  desperate  finish  with  Orme,  but  the  younger 
one  struggled  with  bulldog  courage,  and  amidst  tremendous 
excitement  did  the  trick  by  a  neck.  Then  ensued  such  a 
scene  as  is  rarely  seen  on  a  racecourse.  The  vast  concourse 
of  people  rose  en  masse  and  cheered  until  they  were  hoarse. 
From  the  course,  from  the  rings,  from  the  Club  Stand,  and 
even  from  that  part  of  the  stand  which  is  reserved  for 
members  of  the  Jockey  Club  and  their  friends,  the  out- 
break was  unanimous.  The  most  reserved  of  individuals 
caught  the  infection  for  once,  and  those  who  witnessed  the 
scene  will  never  forget  it.  For  five  minutes,  at  least,  the 
huge  crowd  stood  where  it  was,  the  cheers  being  renewed 
time  after  time,  and  the  excitement  only  subsiding  when 
the  numbers  went  up  for  the  next  race.  It  was  a  public 
tribute  to  the  gameness  of  a  gallant  horse,  who  had  un- 
doubtedly lost  the  Derby  owing  to  foul  play,  and  as  such 
it  will  be  handed  down  as  long  as  Turf  history  is  recorded. 

In  1893  Orme  was  again  successful,  and  this  time  he  beat 
his  stable  companion,  La  Fleche,  who  started  favourite 
at  evens,  while  Orme  stood  at  2  to  i.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  the  previous  autumn,  two  months  after  Orme's  first 
Eclipse  success,  La  Fleche  had  won  the  St.  Leger,  turning 
the  tables  on  her  Epsom  conqueror,  Sir  Hugo,  and  that 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     181 

Orme  had  been  beaten  out  of  place  in  the  same  race.  That 
Orme  did  not  give  his  true  running  in  the  St.  Leger  was 
a  very  general  opinion  at  the  time,  but  there  were  those  who 
asserted  that  want  of  stamina  caused  his  defeat.  However, 
we  may  again  take  the  book  Kingsclere  for  a  guide,  and 
in  that  volume  it  is  asserted  that  the  late  George  Barrett 
rode  Orme  contrary  to  orders.  He  made  such  strong 
running  with  the  colt  that  he  was  spun  out  at  the  final  bend. 
Anyhow,  it  is  apparent  that  the  question  of  superiority 
between  Orme  and  La  Fleche  was  not  settled  when  the 
pair  met  at  Sandown  Park  as  four-year-olds,  for  the  public 
actually  stood  the  loser.  There  is  no  need  to  describe  the 
race  in  detail ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  Orme  won  much  more 
easily  than  in  the  previous  year,  and  that  La  Fleche  was 
beaten  for  second  place  by  Baron  Rothschild's  Medicis. 
As  far  as  the  Kingsclere  colt  and  filly  are  concerned,  they 
met  again  at  Goodwood  a  fortnight  later,  when  Orme  had 
to  give  7  Ibs.  They  ran  the  Craven  Course,  much  about  the 
same  distance  as  for  the  Eclipse  Stakes,  and  Orme  won,  but 
only  by  a  neck,  La  Fleche  showing  much  better  form  than 
she  had  done  at  Sandown  Park.  This  Goodwood  race  pro- 
duced a  grand  struggle  between  two  of  the  gamest  thorough- 
breds of  modern  times.  Each  contested  every  inch  of  the 
ground  in  most  determined  fashion,  and  as  Watercress,  who 
had  finished  third  to  La  Fleche  and  Sir  Hugo  in  the 
St.  Leger,  and  well  in  front  of  Orme,  was  now  beaten 
half  a  dozen  lengths  for  second  place,  it  will  be  seen  how 
probable  it  is  that  the  St.  Leger  running  of  the  previous 
year  was  wrong,  although,  of  course,  I  must  allow  for  the 
fact  that  the  St.  Leger  Course  is  half  a  mile  longer  than 
the  Craven  Course  at  Goodwood. 

In  1894  the  Eclipse  Stakes  provided  another  emphatically 
great  race.  Not  great  because  of  a  remarkably  close  finish, 
but  great  in  every  other  sense  of  the  word,  because  of  the 
quality  of  the  field.  Amongst  the  seven  runners  were 
included  two  winners  of  the  Derby,  two  winners  of  the 
St.  Leger,  two  winners  of  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas,  a 
winner  of  the  Ascot  Cup,  and  a  winner  of  the  £10,000 
Lancashire  Stakes.  It  was  reckoned  at  the  time  by  some 


182  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

well  versed  in  such  matters  that  five  of  the  seven  starters 
were  worth  .£60,000,  and  I  am  far  from  saying  that  this 
was  an  over-estimate  of  their  value.  The  five  were  Isinglass, 
Ladas,  Ravensbury,  Raeburn,  and  Throstle.  That  £20,000 
would  have  been  given  for  either  of  the  first-named  two 
is,  I  believe,  certain,  and  if  I  put  Ravensbury  and  Raeburn 
at  £8,000  a  piece,  and  Throstle,  who  six  weeks  later  beat 
Ladas  for  the  St.  Leger,  at  £4,000,  the  amount  is  made 
up.  Isinglass  had  clipped  the  wings  of  Ladas  in  the 
Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  and  of  course 
started  favourite.  He  won  again  in  great  style,  and  was 
without  doubt  the  champion  of  his  day.  Indeed,  it  is 
questionable  whether  any  other  winner  of  the  Eclipse  Stakes 
takes  higher  rank,  unless  it  be  Persimmon ;  and  between 
the  pair  superiority  can  never  be  determined,  as  Isinglass 
was  foaled  three  years  before  the  Prince  of  Wales'  colt. 

The  year  1895  was  much  poorer  as  regards  class,  as  will 
be  easily  understood  when  it  is  stated  that  favouritism  was 
divided  between  Whittier,  None  the  Wiser,  and  Le  Var. 
All  were  beaten  by  the  French  three-year-old  Le  Justicier, 
whose  jockey  very  likely  stole  a  march  upon  Watts,  Finlay, 
Cannon,  and  others  by  making  such  strong  running  that 
no  one  went  after  him  until  it  was  too  late.  In  1896 
St.  Frusquin  had  nothing  but  Regret,  Labrador,  and 
Troon  to  beat,  and  the  odds  that  were  laid  on  were 
landed  in  most  decisive  fashion,  Mr.  Leopold  de  Rothschild's 
good  and  game  horse  pulling  through  with  a  lot  to  spare. 
In  1897  Persimmon,  though  he  had  been  trained  for  and 
had  won  the  Ascot  Cup,  demonstrated  his  marked  superiority 
to  Velasquez,  but  the  latter  was  able  to  win  in  the  next  year, 
when  the  quality  of  the  field  was  exceedingly  moderate, 
as  may  be  realised  from  the  fact  that  the  wayward  Batt 
was  second,  and  the  very  uncertain  Goletta  third.  Though 
Velasquez  was  never  in  the  front  rank,  he  asserted  himself 
very  decisively  in  such  a  field. 

About  the  two  most  recent  Eclipse  winners,  Flying  Fox 
and  Diamond  Jubilee,  I  have  written  in  connection  with 
their  respective  Derbys,  so  that  further  reference  to  them 
is  unnecessary.  Both  were  acquisitions  to  the  roll-call  of 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     183 

this  great  race,  and  both  showed  considerable  superiority 
by  giving  a  lot  of  weight  to  the  best  of  their  own  age 
who  could  be  found  to  run  against  them. 

So  much  for  Sandown's  greatest  race.  The  "  Eclipse " 
meeting  is  the  most  important  of  the  many  interesting 
Sandown  fixtures,  and  on  the  second  day  the  most  valuable 
two-year-old  prize  of  the  season  is  decided.  This  is  called 
the  National  Breeders'  Produce  Stakes,  and  as  the  conditions 
admit  of  penalties  and  allowances,  it  happens  that  the  race 
has  often  been  won  by  a  moderate  horse.  Indeed,  there 
are  few  good  names  on  its  list  of  winners,  but  Cyllene 
was  successful  under  a  penalty,  and  at  present  he  stands 
out  as  the  best  class  of  those  to  whom  the  race  has  fallen. 
Five  meetings  under  Jockey  Club  Rules  are  held  at  Sandown 
every  year.  The  first  follows  the  Epsom  Spring  Meeting, 
two  days  being  devoted  to  flat  racing  and  a  third  to  sport 
under  National  Hunt  Rules.  A  more  important  fixture  is 
held  in  June — usually  in  the  week  following  Ascot — the 
"  Eclipse  "  meeting  falling  in  July.  Not  at  all  well  attended 
is  the  September  fixture,  which  generally  takes  place  in  the 
week  before  the  St.  Leger,  but  the  October  Meeting — 
which,  like  the  spring  fixture,  has  its  third  day  devoted  to 
jumping  contests — draws  all  the  racing  army,  and  is,  with 
one  exception,  the  most  important  autumn  meeting  held 
in  a  London  enclosure.  Besides  these  five  flat-racing 
fixtures  there  are  generally  three  cross-country  meetings 
of  two  days  each,  one  in  December  and  two  in  February, 
and  one  in  March  of  three  days,  this  being  the  Grand 
Military  Meeting,  which  has  for  many  years  past  been  a 
fixture  at  Sandown,  and  which,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, is  hardly  likely  to  be  removed  elsewhere.  It  is 
very  justly  regarded  as  the  Ascot  of  racing  under  National 
Hunt  Rules. 

In  my  opening  remarks  about  Sandown  I  said  that  the 
place  had  a  very  moderate  course,  and  I  am  afraid  that, 
in  many  respects,  this  is  only  too  true.  As  some  set-off 
the  stands  are  beautifully  placed  for  seeing  all  the  racing, 
except  the  finishes  on  the  five -furlong  course,  and  at  no 
other  enclosure  is  the  steeplechasing  so  easily  followed. 


184  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

The  stands  are  set  on  a  hill  high  above  the  course,  and 
half  a  mile  distant  from  the  Esher  Railway  Station,  and  all 
the  racing  takes  place  on  the  slope  which  occupies  the 
intervening  space.  The  Eclipse  Stakes  Course,  between 
nine  and  ten  furlongs,  is  straight  and  slightly  downhill 
for  about  five  furlongs.  It  then  turns  right-handed,  and 
ends  with  a  straight  uphill  run-in  of  a  little  under  half  a 
mile.  The  finish  is  decidedly  severe,  but  with  a  large  field 
there  is  naturally  a  lot  of  easing  up  round  the  very  sharp 
bend,  and  stamina  is  not  quite  so  much  served  as  it  would 
be  on  a  straight-away  course  of  the  same  distance,  with  the 
same  uphill  finish.  All  races  beyond  five  furlongs  are  run 
on  the  round  course,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  six- 
furlong  races  are  seldom  to  be  found  in  the  programme, 
because  the  start  for  such  takes  place  close  to  the  beginning 
of  the  "  elbow."  The  five-furlong  course  is  straight  across  the 
centre  of  the  Park,  and  is  a  gradual  rise  all  the  way.  It 
suffers  from  two  serious  defects,  one  of  which,  viz.  long 
delays  at  the  post,  now  that  the  starting-machine  is  coming 
into  general  use,  will  gradually  disappear.  The  other  draw- 
back is  that  the  winning-post  is  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  stands,  and  thus,  unless  one  walks  across  to  it, 
it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  see  what  has  actually  won, 
that  is  when  two  or  three  horses  finish  close  together. 

The  Steeplechase  Course  at  Sandown  is  a  very  fine  one, 
the  fences  being  strongly  built  up  and  very  neatly  planned. 
In  the  western  corner  there  are  three  jumps  close  together 
which  call  for  cleverness  if  they  are  to  be  properly  nego- 
tiated, and  on  the  hillside  there  is  another  series  of  three, 
including  an  open  ditch,  not  quite  so  close  together,  but  at 
the  same  time  nearer  to  each  other  than  is  the  case  at  many 
other  courses.  The  water-jump  is  out  in  the  open,  on  the 
flat  ground  by  the  side  of  the  railway,  and  a  formidable 
fence — which  brings  more  horses  to  grief  than  any  other — 
is  close  to  the  entrance,  and  is  generally  known  as  the  "  pay- 
gate"  fence.  What  is  wrong  with  this  fence  no  one  can 
say,  but  the  proportion  of  falls  at  it  is  certainly  large. 

Much  of  the  Sandown  Course  is  on  a  clay  soil,  conse- 
quently it  becomes  hard  in  times  of  drought  and  is 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     185 

occasionally  heavy  in  the  winter.  The  land  is  well  drained, 
the  going  well  cared  for,  however,  and  on  the  whole  trainers 
have  no  need  to  complain.  Some  of  the  cross-country 
prizes  and  hurdle-races  are  well  worth  winning,  and  one 
generally  sees  a  fair  number  of  the  front  rank  of  steeple- 
chase horses  at  the  early  Spring  Meetings,  the  most 
conspicuous  of  which  is  the  Grand  Military  fixture.  This 
always  draws  an  enormous  crowd,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
most  popular  functions  of  the  early  London  season.  It  is 
quite  a  common  thing  to  see  candidates  for  the  Grand 
National  given  a  public  trial  in  one  of  the  Sandown  steeple- 
chases. 

Racing  at  Kempton  Park  was  established  some  three  or 
four  years  after  the  inauguration  of  Sandown,  and  when  it 
had  become  apparent  that  the  venture  at  Esher  was  a  suc- 
cess. Sandown  and  Kempton  are  each  about  fourteen  miles 
from  London,  Kempton  being  rather  more  than  two  miles 
from  Hampton  Court,  on  the  Middlesex  side  of  the  river, 
and  the  two  places  are  not  more  than  five  miles  apart.  Both 
can  be  easily  reached  from  town  by  a  variety  of  roads,  and 
both  are  equally  popular  with  the  large  number  of  race- 
goers who  make  a  practice  of  driving  to  the  various 
Metropolitan  meetings.  In  one  respect  Kempton  has  an 
advantage  over  Sandown,  because  the  railway  passes  by 
the  back  of  the  stands,  to  each  of  which  there  is  a  covered 
way  from  the  platform.  It  is  therefore  possible  to  watch 
a  day's  racing  at  Kempton  in  pouring  rain,  and  yet  remain 
under  cover  from  the  time  of  leaving  Waterloo  until  that 
terminus  is  reached  again.  Another  pleasing  feature  of 
Kempton  is  the  proximity  of  the  paddock  to  the  stands, 
but  owing  to  the  flat  nature  of  the  ground  the  various  races 
are  not  so  easily  seen  as  at  Sandown.  The  whole  place  is 
beautifully  kept  in  order,  and  twenty  years  of  constant 
attention  have  made  the  going  remarkably  good.  In  times 
of  dry  weather  sufficient  herbage  is  left  to  allow  of  the  con- 
cussion being  minimised,  and  so  sound  and  well  drained  is 
the  turf,  that  mud  is  quite  a  rarity,  even  at  the  mid-winter 
cross-country  fixtures. 

The  start  for  the  Jubilee  Stakes,  when  Kempton  Park's 


186  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

most  popular  handicap  was  so  named  and  the  distance  run 
was  one  mile,  was  difficult  to  make  out,  but  by  increasing 
the  distance  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile  the  curious  result  has 
been  attained  of  making  the  commencement  of  the  race 
easily  visible  through  glasses,  although  the  addition  to  the 
course  has  taken  the  starting-post  two  furlongs  further  away 
from  the  stands.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  new  piece 
is  strongly  sloped,  a  hint  having  possibly  been  taken  from 
the  straight  mile  at  Lingfield,  the  running  on  every  yard  of 
which  is  plainly  visible.  When  the  horses  have  travelled  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  they  are  much  more  difficult  to  make  out 
than  when  on  the  slope,  but  six  furlongs  from  the  finish  the 
positions  can  be  determined  with  distinctness.  The  race  is 
now  known  as  the  Great  Jubilee  Handicap.  There  is  one 
right-handed  bend,  some  three  furlongs  from  the  finish,  which 
places  the  run-in  at  right  angles  to  the  rest  of  the  course, 
and  this  bend  has  been  fateful  to  many  a  runner,  horses 
being  liable  to  be  shut  in  there  or  made  to  lose  distance  by 
having  to  go  wide. 

There  is  also  a  circular  course,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in 
extent,  and  a  straight  six  furlongs  up  the  centre  of  the  Park, 
for  which  a  separate  winning-post  is  used.  All  the  courses 
are  practically  flat,  the  deviations  from  the  level  being,  with 
the  exception  of  the  first  two  furlongs  of  the  Jubilee  Course, 
so  slight  as  to  be  not  worth  mentioning.  As  at  Sandown, 
the  winning-post  of  the  straight  course  is  at  such  an  angle 
to  the  stands  that  in  a  close  finish  it  is  impossible  to  know 
exactly  what  has  won,  unless  one  has  taken  up  a  position 
near  the  finish. 

Kempton  has  many  meetings  during  the  year,  and  its 
executive  encourages  Saturday  racing,  which  is  patronised 
by  thousands  of  the  humbler  class  of  race-goer  in  conse- 
quence of  the  attraction  of  an  admission  fee  of  one  shilling. 
It  also  takes  a  fair  share  of  the  bank  holiday  meetings. 
It  caters  for  all  sections  of  the  public,  as  it  does  for  all 
varieties  of  racehorse,  from  those  of  the  highest  class  to  the 
selling  plater.  At  present,  and  for  many  years  past,  its 
principal  meetings,  each  of  two  days,  have  been  held  in  May 
and  October,  always  on  Friday  and  Saturday,  the  spring 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     187 

fixture  following  Chester,  and  the  autumn  gathering  falling 
between  the  First  and  Second  October  Meetings  at  New- 
market. At  the  May  Meeting  the  Royal  Two-year-old 
Plate  is  the  feature  of  the  first  day,  and  the  Jubilee  Stakes 
of  the  second,  and  without  doubt  the  last-named  race  is  now 
the  most  important  of  the  Spring  Handicaps.  Commenced, 
as  its  name  implies,  in  1887,  this  race  gained  popularity  at 
the  first  attempt,  and  curiously  enough  it  quickly  became 
remarkable  for  a  succession  of  wonderful  performances.  No 
modern  handicap  has  such  a  record,  and  the  upshot  is  that 
the  entry  always  includes  many  of  the  best  horses  in  train- 
ing, and  it  can  boast  of  a  better  class  than  that  of  any  other 
of  those  races  known  as  the  Spring  Handicaps.  The  stake 
is  now  worth  between  £2,000  and  £3,000,  and  in  its  first 
year  it  was  won  by  that  good  and  popular  horse  Bendigo, 
who  carried  9  st.  7  Ibs.  to  victory,  and  whose  success 
"  broke  "  a  host  of  small  bookmakers,  as  did  that  of  Victor 
Wild,  when  he  won  his  second  Jubilee  nine  years  later. 

Good  as  Bendigo's  performance  was,  it  did  not  equal  that 
of  Minting,  who  won  in  1888  with  10  stone  in  the  saddle. 
This,  indeed,  stands  out  as  the  best  mile-handicap  perform- 
ance of  modern  times,  and  almost  equals  the  marvellous 
feat  of  Vespasian,  who  won  the  Chesterfield  Cup  at  Good- 
wood, in  1869,  under  the  crushing  weight  of  lost.  4 Ibs.  In 
the  following  year  a  three-year-old  won  for  the  first  time, 
the  late  General  Byrne's  Amphion,  and  he  too  was  in  the 
first  class  on  his  course  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  quarter. 
That  he  could  not  really  stay  was  proved  when  he  threw 
down  the  gauntlet  to  Sheen  on  the  Caesarewitch  Course, 
in  one  of  the  Plates  for  which  Mr.  C.  D.  Rose  provided 
the  funds  with  a  view  to  encourage  distance  races ;  but  he 
was  a  very  handsome  horse,  and  at  the  moment  he  has 
made  a  bigger  name  at  the  stud  than  either  Bendigo  or 
Minting,  having  sired  Dieudonne",  Altesse,  and  other  speedy 
ones,  whereas  Bendigo  has  been  a  signal  failure,  and 
Minting's  fame  will  have  to  depend  upon  a  host  of  better- 
class  platers,  unless  he  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  his  sire, 
Lord  Lyon,  and  sires  a  really  good  one  when  a  very  old 
horse.  The  Imp,  who  won  in  1890,  was  moderate,  but  so 


188  THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

far  he  is  the  only  moderate  horse  in  the  list,  every  other 
winner  of  the  race  having  distinguished  himself  by  scoring 
in  other  important  races.  In  1891  Nunthorpe  won  under 
9  stone,  inclusive  of  a  14-lb.  penalty  for  having  won  the 
City  and  Suburban,  and  this  was  another  very  popular 
victory,  the  horse  being  owned  by  the  late  Colonel  North, 
a  huge  favourite  with  the  cockney  crowd.  Following  the 
victory  of  Nunthorpe  came  that  of  Euclid,  and  though 
Euclid  was  not  a  great  horse  he  was  a  very  smart  performer 
in  handicaps,  and  as  a  three-year-old  he  won  under  7  st.  4  Ibs., 
which  was  really  a  most  remarkable  performance.  The  race 
was  run  in  the  first  week  of  May,  a  month  before  the  Derby, 
and  one  may  search  the  Calendars  in  vain  to  find  any  three- 
year-old  winning  such  a  handicap  at  that  time  of  year  under 
such  a  weight.  Amphion,  three  years  before,  had  won  under 
3  Ibs.  less,  and  nearly  as  good  a  performance  was  that  of 
Grey  Leg  in  the  City  and  Suburban  of  1894,  when  7  st. 
was  successfully  carried,  but  it  is  quite  exceptional  for  a 
three-year-old  to  win  any  of  what  are  known  as  the  Spring 
Handicaps  (the  Lincolnshire  Handicap,  City  and  Suburban, 
Great  Metropolitan,  Chester  Cup,  and  Jubilee  Stakes)  when 
so  highly  handicapped.  Euclid's  Kempton  achievement 
remains  a  record. 

In  1893  Orvieto  won  under  9st.  5  Ibs.,  and  here  again  the 
winner  was  of  very  high  class  and  the  performance  a  remark- 
able one.  Orvieto,  mention  of  whose  great  race  with  Orme 
in  the  Eclipse  Stakes  of  1892  was  made  a  few  pages  back, 
was  a  Bend  Or  horse,  and  a  fine  weight-carrier,  and  he  was 
followed  by  another  fair-class  horse  in  Avington,  who  carried 
just  a  reasonable  weight  on  his  four-year-old  back.  Then 
came  the  two  successive  victories  of  Victor  Wild,  one  of 
those  horses  upon  whom  the  public  fancy  settled  most 
strongly,  and  both  of  whose  victories  took  a  great  deal  of 
money  out  of  the  ring.  Victor  Wild  won  in  1895  and  1896, 
carrying  on  the  first  occasion  8  st.  4  Ibs.,  and  in  the  following 
year  9  st.  7  Ibs.,  the  weight  which  Bendigo  had  won  under 
nine  years  before.  Victor  Wild  had  previously  won  the 
Royal  Hunt  Cup  at  Ascot,  and  from  the  age  of  four  to  six 
he  improved  in  a  marvellous  degree.  Victor  Wild's  earliest 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     189 

racecourse  experiences  were  in  Selling  Plates,  but  he  be- 
came a  wonderful  miler,  and  had  a  special  liking  for  the 
Jubilee  Course  and  the  New  Mile  at  Ascot.  On  both  of 
these  tracks  he  did  great  things,  and  when  he  won  the 
Jubilee  Stakes  for  the  second  time  he  actually  gave  Kilcock 
— then  a  four-year-old — no  less  than  37  Ibs.  To  show  what 
this  form  amounted  to  I  may  mention  that  in  the  following 
year  Kilcock  and  Victor  Wild  finished  second  and  third 
to  Clwyd,  Kilcock  (9  st.)  beating  Victor  Wild  (9  st.  9  Ibs.) 
by  three-quarters  of  a  length  for  second  place,  while  Clwyd, 
who  only  carried  7  st.  5  Ibs.,  had  a  neck  advantage  of 
Kilcock.  Letting  alone  his  other  victories,  his  great 
race  with  Knight  of  the  Thistle  for  the  Hunt  Cup,  when 
he  was  beaten  only  three-quarters  of  a  length  with  9  st. 
12  Ibs.  in  the  saddle,  Victor  Wild's  Kempton  performances 
stamp  him  a  great  horse ;  but  it  must  be  understood  that 
a  mile,  or  a  very  little  beyond,  was  the  furthest  he  could 
go,  and  an  attempt  to  win  the  Ascot  Cup  with  him  brought 
about  an  almost  ridiculous  failure.  He  was  by  Albert  Victor 
out  of  Wild  Huntress  by  Remorse,  her  dam  Rio  by  Plum 
Pudding  out  of  an  earlier  Rio  by  Melbourne.  To  Mr. 
A.  W.  Mostyn  Owen  the  credit  of  his  breeding  is  due, 
and  he  began  his  career  in  a  two-year-old  Selling  Plate 
at  Hurst  Park,  in  which  he  was  cleverly  beaten  by  Dromonby. 
He  next  ran  at  Portsmouth  Park,  where  he  beat  a  small 
and  moderate  field  for  the  Brockhurst  Plate,  and  on  being 
put  up  to  auction  he  was  sold  to  Mr.  T.  Worton  for  330 
guineas.  In  his  new  owner's  colours  he  won  the  Midland 
Nursery  at  Warwick,  and  was  bought  in  for  640  guineas. 
This  was  his  last  appearance  in  a  Selling  Plate,  and  during 
the  following  year — in  which  he  won  six  of  the  eleven  races 
in  which  he  took  part — his  efforts  were  confined  to  regula- 
tion plates  and  good-class  handicaps.  It  may  be  mentioned 
that  he  was  a  lightly- framed  thoroughbred,  with  apparently 
no  great  amount  of  power  or  substance.  He  was,  however, 
very  neatly  put  together,  and  one  of  the  most  muscular 
horses  I  ever  saw,  while  his  action  was  exceedingly  pretty. 
About  his  gameness  there  could  be  no  two  opinions ;  and 
though  he  was  not  built  on  the  lines  of  the  orthodox  weight- 


190  THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

carrier,  his  best  performances  were  all  achieved  under  very 
heavy  burdens.  Critics  who  looked  him  over  in  a  paddock 
for  the  first  time  would  be  lost  in  amazement,  although 
knowing  what  he  had  accomplished  ;  but  the  general  public, 
especially  that  portion  of  it  which  attends  the  London 
meetings,  fairly  worshipped  him.  He  was  essentially  a 
London  horse ;  he  was  owned  by  a  London  licensed 
victualler,  who  publicly  tipped  him  for  all  the  big  races 
he  won,  and  he  seldom  ran  at  any  but  the  London  meetings, 
Ascot,  Kempton,  and  Hurst  Park  being  most  frequently 
chosen  for  him.  What  he  may  do  at  the  stud  remains  to 
be  proved,  but  he  represents  a  line  which,  if  not  much  to 
the  fore  in  this  country,  is  making  its  mark  in  America,  and 
it  is  quite  on  the  cards  that  "  the  people's  horse  "  may  revive 
the  family  in  England. 

It  has  been  stated  how  popular  were  the  two  victories  of 
Victor  Wild,  so  perhaps  it  was  only  natural  that  Clwyd's 
success  in  1897  should  have  been  very  coldly  received.  It 
was  not  that  the  horse  himself  was  disliked — in  fact,  honest 
horses  can  hardly  be  disliked ;  only  rogues  and  welshers,  who 
do  not  try  when  they  arej  backed,  but  pop  up  unexpectedly 
when  no  stable  commission  has  been  executed,  come  in  for 
real  detestation — but  there  were  circumstances  about  Clwyd's 
victory  which  rendered  it  very  bitter  in  the  mouth,  and 
these  will  not  easily  be  forgotten.  In  the  Lincolnshire 
Handicap  of  the  same  year  a  horse  named  Bridegroom 
had  been  beaten  "two  heads"  by  Winkfield's  Pride  and 
Funny  Boat,  and  two  or  three  weeks  later  this  same  horse 
had  run  away  with  the  Queen's  Prize  at  Kempton,  a  race 
run  on  the  Jubilee  Course,  and  in  which  the  mighty  Clorane 
— certainly  giving  a  lot  of  weight — and  that  honest  horse 
Jaquemart  were  amongst  the  beaten  lot.  The  result  of  this 
race  pointed  strongly  to  the  probable  success  of  Bridegroom 
in  the  Jubilee  Stakes,  and  the  horse  was  at  once  promoted 
to  pronounced  favouritism.  Now  Clwyd  was  trained  in  the 
same  stable,  and  owned  by  the  same  owner,  and  was  found 
to  be,  or  said  to  be,  the  better  of  the  pair  at  the  weights. 
After  a  while  his  name  crept  into  the  quotations,  and  he  too 
was  backed.  Bridegroom,  however,  was  allowed  to  remain 


H 

§    1 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     191 

in  the  race  for  at  least  a  week  after  Clwyd  had  become  the 
real  Simon  Pure,  when  he  was  scratched,  and  of  course  all 
the  money  betted  on  him  lost.  Clwyd  eventually  started 
favourite,  and  when,  as  has  been  stated,  he  beat  Kilcock  by 
a  neck,  he  was  received  with  groans,  hoots,  and  hisses,  and 
even  those  who  followed  the  money  at  the  last  moment 
disapproved  of  the  victory.  It  was  a  most  unsavoury  affair, 
and  it  has  always  been  a  matter  for  regret  that  the  Stewards 
of  the  Jockey  Club  did  not  think  fit  to  hold  a  full  inquiry 
into  the  matter. 

As  for  the  hog-maned  Clwyd,  he  was  an  honest,  sterling, 
second-class  horse,  by  Beauclerc  out  of  Strathbrook  by 
Strathern.  He  was  bred  by  Lord  Scarborough  at  Tickhill 
in  Yorkshire,  and  for  the  late  Colonel  North  he  won  the 
valuable  Prince  Edward  Handicap  at  Manchester  two  years 
in  succession.  In  1898  the  Jubilee  Stakes  was  won  by 
Dinna  Forget,  an  Irish-bred  horse,  of  very  fair  class,  who 
has  been  a  most  consistent  performer  in  handicaps,  though 
during  one  year  of  his  career  he  quite  failed  to  maintain 
the  form  he  had  formerly  possessed,  and  which  he  after- 
wards regained.  I  have  no  desire  to  extol  one  trainer  at 
the  expense  of  another,  but  the  fact  was  clearly  demon- 
strated that  Dinna  Forget  was  a  really  good  horse  during 
both  the  periods  of  his  being  trained  by  Robinson  at  Foxhill, 
and  a  very  moderate  one  for  that  period  of  his  life  which 
was  passed  in  a  semi-private  stable  in  the  Midlands.  Dinna 
Forget  is  a  little  horse — even  smaller  than  Clwyd — but  the 
possessor  of  great  quality,  and  his  appearance  and  condition 
on  the  day  he  won  the  Jubilee  were  very  favourably  com- 
mented on.  He  was  turned  out  a  perfect  specimen  of  the 
trainer's  art,  and  this  at  a  time  when  a  majority  of  thorough- 
breds have  not  acquired  their  summer  coats. 

In  1899  the  Jubilee  Stakes  was  won  by  Knight  of  the 
Thistle,  ridden  by  the  American  jockey  Sloan,  and  (low  be 
it  spoken)  the  horse  was  a  pronounced  roarer.  Nevertheless, 
he  carried  the  substantial  weight  of  8  st.  4  Ibs.,  and  had 
something  in  hand  when  he  passed  the  post  a  length  ahead  of 
the  second-class  performer  Greenan.  A  notable  performance 
in  the  race  was  that  of  the  three-year-old  Lord  Edward  II., 


192  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

who  with  7  st.  6  Ibs.  in  the  saddle  was  only  beaten  a  head 
for  second  place  (this  horse  afterwards  ran  second  for  the 
Ascot  Cup),  and  a  notable  failure  was  that  of  the  Australian 
Newhaven  II.,  who  on  the  strength  of  his  City  and  Suburban 
victory  was  backed  at  a  very  short  price,  but  he  could 
do  no  better  than  finish  eighth.  On  the  whole  class  was 
not  so  good,  and  the  race  less  exciting  than  usual.  In  1900 
the  distance  was  increased  to  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  and 
the  winner  turned  up  in  a  very  sterling  mare,  the  Irish- 
bred  Sirenia  by  Gallinule,  who,  however,  only  beat  Merry 
Methodist  by  a  short  head.  The  winner  started  at  a  long 
price,  the  public  having  evidently  forgotten  her  Duke  of 
York  Stakes  victory  over  the  same  course.  She  carried 
8  st.  6  Ibs.,  and  is  by  no  means  the  least  distinguished  of 
Jubilee  winners. 

Hurst  Park,  the  youngest  of  what  may  be  termed  the 
riverside  or  Thames  Valley  group  of  racecourses,  did  not 
come  into  existence  until  many  years  after  Kempton  had 
been  in  full  swing,  and  then  began  with  steeplechasing  and 
pony  and  galloway  racing.  After  a  while  a  Jockey  Club 
licence  was  procured,  and  now  for  some  nine  or  ten  seasons 
legitimate  racing  has  been  the  first  object  of  the  syndicate, 
though,  as  at  Sandown  and  Kempton,  many  cross-country 
meetings  are  also  held.  In  some  ways  Hurst  Park  is  not 
so  ambitious  as  its  two  older  neighbours,  and  notably  great 
stakes  are  seldom  to  be  found  on  the  programme.  All  the 
same  the  money  is  often  on  the  liberal  side,  and  the 
place  is  always  productive  of  good  sport,  and  is  immensely 
popular  with  owners  and  trainers.  Small  fields  are  the 
exception  rather  than  the  rule,  but  one  seldom  sees  horses 
of  the  very  best  class  at  the  meetings,  good  second-class 
handicaps  at  all  distances  being  as  a  rule  the  chief  features 
of  the  programmes.  Weight-for-age  races  are  not  by  any 
means  tabooed,  but  most  money  is  given  to  the  handicaps, 
and  I  can  call  to  mind  very  few  horses  of  the  highest  class 
who  have  carried  silk  at  Hurst  Park.  The  course  is  situated 
on  the  Moulsey  Hurst,  the  scene  of  the  old  Hampton  Races, 
but  the  course  is  not  exactly  the  same,  and  the  stands  are 
differently  placed  from  what  they  were  in  the  days  of  "'Appy 


g    E 

<      o 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     193 

'Ampton,"  so  beloved  of  the  cockney  race-goer  of  the  last 
generation. 

Everything  at  Hurst  Park  is  up  to  date,  and  the  meetings 
thoroughly  well  managed,  and  in  this  lies  the  secret  of  much 
of  the  success  which  has  been  achieved.  Another  factor 
towards  the  result  is  the  excellence  of  the  going,  and  in  this 
respect  Hurst  Park  stands  almost  alone.  The  course  is  laid 
upon  a  subsoil  of  gravel  and  sand,  and  much  of  the  turf 
is  very  old,  consequently  the  going  is  almost  invariably 
good.  In  wet  weather  the  light  porous  soil  allows  of  free 
and  quick  drainage,  and  in  dry  weather  the  surface  crumbles, 
rather  than  cakes  as  a  clay  soil  will.  The  turf  is  kept  in 
beautiful  order  by  experienced  men,  and  though  it  is  less 
required  here  than  elsewhere,  artificial  irrigation  is  largely 
resorted  to  in  the  summer  months  should  the  natural  supply 
be  insufficient.  The  Oval  Course  measures  one  mile  and 
three  furlongs,  and,  as  its  name  suggests,  is  almost  a  perfect 
oval,  with  no  very  decided  turns,  and  a  run-in  of  over  half 
a  mile.  Races  of  a  mile  and  upwards  are  run  on  this  course, 
for  the  "  straight  mile  "  is  a  few  yards  short  of  the  required 
distance,  though  it  does  well  for  races  up  to  seven  furlongs. 
The  course  is  a  wide  one  all  the  way  round,  but  the  angle 
of  the  stands  to  the  winning-post  is  a  peculiar  one,  and 
if  two  or  more  horses  finish  wide  of  each  other  the  view 
is  sometimes  very  deceptive.  In  its  early  days  Hurst  Park 
did  not  "  catch  on  "  with  the  public  as  Sandown  and  Kemp- 
ton  had  done,  but  it  gradually  worked  its  way  into  favour, 
and  now  it  more  than  holds  its  own  with  a  majority  of 
modern  enclosures. 

Hurst  Park  made  a  bid  for  a  place  in  Turf  history  when, 
on  October  27th,  1900,  a  match  at  six  furlongs  was  decided 
there  between  Eager  and  Royal  Flush.  Royal  Flush  had 
improved  so  marvellously  in  the  hands  of  Wishard  that 
there  seemed  nothing  outrageous  in  the  match,  although 
Eager  had  been  set  to  give  Royal  Flush  2  st.  at  Goodwood. 
How  Eager  won  in  a  canter,  and  how  the  crowd  cheered 
itself  hoarse,  are  now  matters  of  history. 

Another  Thames  riverside  racing-place  is  Windsor,  where 
several    meetings    are   held    during   the   year    under    both 
o 


194  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

sets  of  rules.  The  course  is  situated  on  the  Clewer 
Meadows,  rather  more  than  a  mile  from  the  town  and  right 
on  the  river  bank.  The  summer  fixtures  are  largely 
patronised  on  account  of  the  position  of  the  course,  it 
being  a  favourite  plan  to  make  use  of  a  steam  launch  from 
Maidenhead,  or  to  travel  up  from  Staines  in  the  same 
manner.  From  a  class  point  of  view  Windsor  Races  do 
not  stand  very  high,  and  no  great  amount  of  money  is  added 
to  the  stakes.  The  better  sort  of  plating  is  what  is  chiefly 
catered  for,  but  plenty  of  runners  are  always  forthcoming, 
and  with  London  so  close  at  hand  a  strong  ring  can  be 
relied  upon.  There  is  a  good  straight  six-furlong  course, 
and  a  two-mile  course  is  available,  though  it  twists  about 
in  a  manner  which  is  rather  confusing  to  strangers. 

Two  comparatively  modern  enclosures  in  the  London 
district  are  Gatwick  and  Lingfield,  situated  in  Surrey,  about 
eight  miles  apart,  Gatwick  being  on  the  main  line  to 
Brighton — exactly  half-way  between  London  and  Brighton 
— and  Lingfield  due  east  of  Gatwick,  and  about  three  miles 
north  of  East  Grinstead.  Gatwick  is  in  many  respects  a 
model  racecourse.  Everything  is  on  so  large  a  scale  that 
there  is  far  less  crowding  than  there  is  elsewhere,  and  the 
range  of  stands  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  kingdom.  The 
course,  too,  is  a  magnificent  one.  To  begin  with,  it  is 
only  a  furlong  short  of  two  miles  round,  and  wide  every- 
where. It  is  not  dead-flat,  there  being  a  considerable  rise 
round  the  top  turn,  and  a  descent  down  the  back  stretch. 
The  last  five  furlongs,  after  the  junction  of  the  round 
course  with  the  straight  mile,  have  a  rise  of  8  ft.  to  the  win- 
ning-post, there  being  distinct  gradients  on  the  way  which 
become  apparent  enough  to  anyone  walking  the  course. 
The  turns  are  very  gradual,  and  for  long  races  Gatwick 
offers  a  better  course  than  any  other  Metropolitan  enclosure. 
The  programmes  are  very  attractive,  all  conditions  of  horses 
being  catered  for,  and  a  majority  of  the  prizes  are  well  worth 
winning.  The  principal  meetings  are  held  in  May,  at  the  end 
of  July,  and  in  October,  and  at  the  first-named  fixture  the 
Worth  Stakes  for  two-year-olds  and  the  Prince's  Handicap 
are  the  most  important  prizes.  The  Prince's  Handicap  is 


b  i 


<       fc3 

O       = 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     195 

run  over  a  ten-furlong  course,  and  at  the  July  Meeting  its 
place  is  taken  by  the  Horseshoe  Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a 
half,  and  worth  nearly  £1,000.  At  the  October  Meeting  the 
Gatwick  Handicap  is  of  the  same  length  and  the  same 
value  as  the  Horseshoe  Handicap,  and  it  is  backed  up  by 
Nurseries  of  considerable  value.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
long-distance  running  is  encouraged  by  the  Gatwick  execu- 
tive, and  it  may  be  added  that  two-mile  weight-for-age  plates 
often  do  duty  at  this  enclosure  in  place  of  the  regulation 
mile  races  that  are  found  elsewhere.  The  Gatwick  stands 
are  alongside  and  connected  with  the  railway  platforms 
by  covered  ways,  and  the  paddock  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  in  the  kingdom.  In  my  humble  opinion — judging 
partly  from  the  excellent  management,  but  chiefly  from 
the  magnificent  course  —  there  is  a  great  future  before 
Gatwick,  and  I  should  like  to  see  a  Gatwick  Cup,  on  some- 
what similar  lines  to  the  Ascot  Cup,  so  well  adapted  is 
the  course  for  this  class  of  contest. 

Lingfield  is  a  beautiful  spot,  its  scenic  attractions  yielding 
only  to  those  of  Goodwood  amongst  our  English  racecourses. 
Its  club  enclosure  is  the  prettiest  of  them  all,  and  though 
as  the  presumed  successor  to  the  turbulent  Edenbridge 
Meeting  it  began  life  with  somewhat  troublous  times,  it 
has  weathered  the  storm,  and  has  quickly  acquired  much 
popularity.  Thousand-pound  stakes  for  two-year-olds  and 
handicaps  of  the  same  amount  are  at  present  the  most 
valuable  prizes  offered.  At  its  cross-country  meetings  the 
stakes  are  often  very  small,  and  an  improvement  in  this 
respect  is  desirable,  while  just  about  the  same  number  of 
meetings  are  held  as  at  Gatwick.  The  course  is  a  somewhat 
peculiar  one,  there  being  a  considerable  amount  of  hill- 
climbing  on  the  round  course,  and  a  steep  hill  to  come 
down,  while  the  first  half  of  the  straight  mile  is  on  a  sharp 
descent  favourable  to  fast  times.  It  was  here  that  Harrow 
made  the  record  for  a  mile.  Good-shouldered  horses  who 
can  stretch  themselves  out  to  the  fullest  speed  on  a  steep 
decline  are  at  an  advantage  here,  but  the  run-in  is  almost 
level,  the  junction  of  the  round  and  straight  courses  being 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  winning-post. 


196  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Alexandra  Park  must  now  be  included  amongst  the 
Metropolitan  enclosures,  for  though  a  much  older  meeting 
than  Sandown,  Kempton,  etc.,  it  has  only  lately  become  a 
club  meeting.  Alexandra  Park  is  the  only  place  where 
racing  is  held  within  the  boundaries  of  London.  It  is  not 
more  than  seven  miles  from  the  West  End,  and  the  approach 
to  it  is  through  bricks  and  mortar  all  the  way,  though  just 
a  semblance  of  the  country  is  to  be  found  when  Muswell 
Hill  is  reached.  The  meetings,  on  account  of  their  position, 
require  the  licence  of  the  London  County  Council  as  well 
as  the  Jockey  Club  permit.  They  are  exceedingly  popular, 
and,  what  is  more  to  the  point,  their  popularity  has  greatly 
increased  since  the  formation  of  the  Middlesex  and  County 
Racing  Club,  and  the  wholesale  overhaulings  of  the  pro- 
gramme which  have  taken  place  within  the  last  two  or  three 
years.  Time  was  when  these  fixtures  were  held  in  some 
contempt  by  many  race-goers,  and  when  a  majority  of  the 
runners  were  selling-platers;  but  everything  has  been  changed, 
and  now  the  stakes  are  valuable,  many  of  the  runners  of 
good  class,  and  the  attendances  very  smart.  Selling  Stakes 
of  from  ;£  1,000  to  £2,000  in  value  have  been  offered,  and 
the  course  has  been  improved,  the  stands  enlarged  and 
practically  rebuilt,  and  the  rough  element  controlled  with 
a  strong  hand.  Fixtures,  however,  are  not  very  easily 
secured  by  the  executive,  though,  owing  to  the  perfect 
system  of  hydrants,  the  course  is  fit  to  race  on  at  any 
period  of  the  year. 

The  same  energy  that  has  done  so  much  for  the  comfort 
of  visitors  to  the  meeting  would  be  directed  to  the  en- 
larging of  the  course  were  any  ground  available  for  the 
purpose,  but  it  is  not.  The  course  for  races  of  five  and 
six  furlongs  is  not  as  straight  as  could  be  wished,  though 
the  second  half  of  it  is  so.  Attached  to  this  course  is  a 
circular  one,  and  distance  races  are  contrived  by  commencing 
the  wrong  way  of  the  course — as  at  Goodwood  and  Epsom, 
in  certain  races — circumventing  the  circular  portion  once  or 
twice,  according  to  necessity,  and  returning  to  the  point 
started  from.  The  circular  course  being  on  the  small  side, 
full  speed  can  scarcely  be  maintained  whilst  circumventing 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     197 

it,  and,  as  at  Chester  and  Northampton,  horses  are  likely 
to  win  there  who  would  be  out  of  it  on  straight  courses, 
upon  which  a  strong  pace  could  be  maintained  from  end 
to  end. 

Some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  a  course  was  laid  out  and 
stands  built  at  Portsmouth  Park,  but  race  meetings  were 
held  for  two  or  three  seasons  only,  no  support  being  forth- 
coming from  the  neighbouring  town  of  Portsmouth.  That 
seaport  with  its  hosts  of  suburbs  contains  a  very  large 
population,  but  few  of  the  inhabitants  seemed  to  care 
about  racing,  and  the  meeting  shared  the  fate  that  attended 
Four  Oaks  Park  in  the  Birmingham  district  a  few  years 
previously.  Portsmouth  Park  racecourse  occupies  a  dreary, 
isolated  position  on  the  flats  by  Langstone  Harbour,  and 
though  it  is  not  more  than  two  or  three  miles  from  the 
Southsea  beach,  as  the  crow  flies,  more  than  double  that 
distance  has  to  be  covered  by  anyone  driving  from  Southsea. 
Portsmouth  is  really  on  an  island,  and  as  far  as  I  know  there 
is  only  one  outlet  on  the  north-east  side,  viz.  by  the  bridge 
at  Cosham.  Now,  to  arrive  at  Cosham  from  the  Southsea 
end  of  Portsmouth,  mile  after  mile  of  dirty  streets  has  to 
be  traversed,  and  the  upshot  was  that  no  one  journeyed  by 
road  to  Portsmouth  Park.  Neither  did  they  come  by  rail, 
though  the  journey  was  only  of  ten  minutes'  duration,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  nine-tenths  of  the  visitors  arrived  by  the 
London  or  the  Brighton  specials.  The  garrison  gave  scant 
support  to  the  fixtures,  and  the  climax  came  when  the 
Buccaneer  and  Nunthorpe  match  took  place.  Buccaneer 
was  an  Ascot  Cup  winner,  and  about  the  best  long-distance 
runner  of  that  particular  period,  and  Nunthorpe  had  won 
the  City  and  Suburban  and  the  Jubilee  Stakes  with  a 
14-lb.  penalty  in  the  saddle.  The  Portsmouth  Park  ex- 
ecutive were  in  difficulties,  and  they  made  a  last  bid  for 
favour  in  the  shape  of  a  valuable  prize  for  these  two  to 
run  over  a  mile  and  a  quarter  course.  Unfortunately  the 
meeting  clashed  with  the  Liverpool  November  Meeting, 
and  this  completely  spoiled  the  attendance.  Not  more  than 
a  handful  of  people  were  present,  and  very  few  members  of 
the  ring.  This  took  the  heart  out  of  the  proceedings,  but 


198  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

when  the  match  came  on,  and  it  was  seen  that  Nunthorpe 
could  not  raise  a  gallop,  the  whole  affair  became  ludicrous, 
and  though  the  programme  was  only  partly  run  through  half 
the  visitors  went  to  the  railway  platform  and  got  into  the 
first  train  going  eastward.  Steeplechase  meetings  are  now 
being  held  on  this  unlucky  course,  and  they  are  meeting 
with  sufficient  success  for  the  present.  A  few  years  since 
a  new  racecourse  was  opened  at  Westenhanger,  near  Folke- 
stone, but  it  was  a  failure  from  the  very  first,  although  the 
South  Eastern  Railway  Company  did  everything  they  could 
to  favour  the  place,  even  carrying  racehorses  and  their 
attendants  to  and  from  the  course  without  charge.  However, 
this  meeting  has  now  been  placed  in  the  able  hands  that 
have  given  us  Gatwick  and  the  new  Alexandra  Park,  so 
there  is  still  hope  for  it,  though  the  course  is  not  placed  in 
a  sporting  district. 

As  in  the  Metropolitan  district,  so  also  in  the  Midlands 
have  racing  enclosures  become  very  popular.  They  have 
quite  taken  the  places  of  the  old  country  meetings,  a  host  of 
which  were  held  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
These  have  all  disappeared,  and  in  their  places  we  find 
enclosures  at  Derby,  Leicester,  Nottingham,  Birmingham, 
and  Dunstall  Park.  Racing  used  to  take  place  at  the  three 
first-mentioned  towns,  but  the  old  courses  at  Leicester  and 
Nottingham  ceased  to  exist,  new  racing  companies  being 
promoted,  with  courses  further  away  from  the  towns.  The 
present  course  at  Derby  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
centre  of  the  town,  and  close  by  the  Nottingham  Road 
Station  of  the  Midland  Railway.  On  each  day  of  the 
meetings  specials  are  run  from  St.  Pancras  and  back  again 
to  London  after  racing  is  over,  and  there  is  an  equally  good 
service  from  Liverpool  and  Manchester.  Indeed,  all  the 
meetings  on  the  Midland  system  are  admirably  served  by 
the  railway  company,  and  scores  of  visitors  to  Derby, 
Leicester,  and  Nottingham  travel  from  and  to  London  every 
day.  The  Derby  meetings  have  been  for  many  years 
exceedingly  prosperous  and  remarkably  popular  with 
owners  and  trainers.  The  stands  and  paddock  are  good, 
and  though  there  are  many  courses  which  I  prefer,  it  cannot 


II 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     199 

be  denied  that  equine  quality  is  attracted  to  Derby,  as  well 
as  quantity,  and  at  the  three  principal  fixtures — held  in 
May,  September,  and  November — a  high  standard  is 
reached.  The  Spring  Meeting  is  the  least  important  of  the 
three,  although  handicaps  of  £1,000  and  £500  are  included 
in  the  programme.  In  September  there  are  several  handi- 
caps well  worth  winning,  and  also  two  editions  of  the 
Champion  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  one  for  two  and  the  other 
for  three-year-olds.  The  date,  however,  is  not  a  particularly 
good  one,  for  the  meeting  almost  invariably  occupies  the 
week  which  intervenes  between  York  and  Doncaster,  and 
many  who  go  the  Northern  Circuit  remain  in  Yorkshire 
during  this  particular  week.  Then  the  1st  of  September 
very  often  falls  in  the  Derby  week  ;  but  in  spite  of  these 
drawbacks  huge  fields  are  generally  forthcoming,  and  the 
Midlands  are  the  home  of  so  many  thousands  of  race-goers 
that  the  attendance  is  always  good. 

Quite  the  most  important  of  the  Derby  fixtures  is  the 
last,  that  which  is  held  in  mid-November,  in  the  last  week 
but  one  of  the  racing  year.  This  meeting  is  celebrated  for 
the  size  of  its  fields,  and  it  sometimes  happens  that  an 
aggregate  of  over  one  hundred  runners  per  day  is  secured. 
Many  of  the  prizes  are  valuable,  notably  the  Derby  Cup,  a 
mile  handicap,  which  is  of  the  value  of  £2,000.  Then  there 
are  valuable  Nurseries  on  each  day  of  the  meetings,  and 
other  good  handicaps  besides  the  Cup.  Many  good-class 
horses  are  always  to  be  found  at  this  meeting,  and  perhaps 
the  Derby  Cup  takes  more  winning  than  any  of  the  Autumn 
Handicaps,  the  Caesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire  excepted, 
although  some  trainers  will  not  have  it  that  the  Caesarewitch 
is  a  difficult  race  to  win.  Speed  of  the  highest  kind  is 
required  in  this  race,  as  there  is  always  a  large  field  and 
something  to  bring  them  along  from  the  fall  of  the  flag. 
The  mile  course  on  which  it  was  run  until  1900,  when  the 
distance  was  increased  to  a  mile  and  a  half,  is  straight  for 
the  last  six  furlongs,  and  wide,  with  a  big  rise  and  fall. 
The  round  course,  on  the  other  hand,  is  rather  congested,  it 
being  only  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  extent.  It  is  a  good 
deal  used,  there  being  several  handicaps  of  a  mile  and  a 


200  THE   ENGLISH  TURF 

half  during  the  year,  and  a  two-mile  Queen's  Plate  at  the 
November  Meeting. 

The  Leicester  Course  is  situated  about  three  miles  from  the 
Leicester  Railway  Station,  and  close  to  the  village  of  Oadby. 
The  meetings  have  had  various  ups  and  downs,  and  at  one 
time  monster  prizes  were  offered,  both  for  weight-for-age 
races  and  handicaps.  Somehow  or  other  they  did  not  bring 
about  much  success,  and  now  the  bulk  of  the  racing  is  of 
the  plating  order.  At  the  same  time  the  plating  is  securing 
that  success  which  the  monster  prizes  missed,  and  at  no 
meetings  in  the  kingdom  are  more  entries  procured  or  are 
large  fields  a  greater  certainty.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
probably  is  that  in  the  days  of  the  big  prizes  the  attendances 
were  not  large  enough  to  return  much  to  the  executive  in 
the  way  of  gate  money,  and  now  that  less  ambitious  pro- 
grammes are  issued  a  smaller  gate  will  answer  the  purpose. 

That  a  very  large  attendance  should  not  be  customary  at 
a  place  like  Leicester  is  somewhat  difficult  to  understand, 
until  it  is  explained  that  a  strong  anti-racing  section  exists 
in  the  town  ;  and  the  surrounding  country  is  not  populous 
enough  to  produce  a  large  crowd.  It  is  very  curious  how 
the  large  English  towns  vary  in  this  respect.  At  Notting- 
ham, for  instance,  they  are  nearly  all  sportsmen,  but  at 
Leicester,  only  a  few  miles  away,  the  reverse  is  the  case, 
and  about  nine-tenths  of  the  visitors  to  the  races  arrive 
by  train  every  day.  Leicester,  it  is  thought,  is  also  ac- 
tuated by  a  feeling  of  resentment  at  the  conversion  of  the 
meeting  from  an  open  to  a  closed  one.  In  the  open  days 
the  workpeople  took  a  half-holiday  with  the  consent  of 
their  employers.  The  Leicester  Course  is  in  many  ways  a 
singularly  attractive  one.  I  know  as  I  write  this  that  I 
shall  be  taken  to  task  for  the  utterance ;  nevertheless  I 
feel  strongly  that  the  give  and  take  at  Oadby  is  very 
welcome  after  the  never-ending  dead -flats  of  so  many 
modern  enclosures.  Nor  do  I  think  it  right  that  horses 
should  have  so  many  of  these  flat  courses  to  race  upon.  A 
well-made  thoroughbred,  with  well-placed  shoulders  and  good 
hocks,  goes  just  as  easily  up  and  down  hill  as  he  does  on  the 
flat,  and  at  Leicester  there  are  plenty  of  gradients,  the 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     201 

straight  mile,  for  instance,  beginning  with  a  longish  descent, 
which  is  followed  by  a  switchback,  and  ending  with  a  level 
finish.  The  last  half  of  this  mile  is  something  like  the  run-in 
at  Lewes,  and  in  my  opinion  the  whole  forms  a  very  nice  test. 
For  speed  that  can  only  be  turned  on  downhill,  or  which — 
owing  to  good  hocks  and  faulty  shoulders — is  seen  at  its  best 
on  a  sharp  ascent,  I  do  not  care,  and  so  I  commend  the 
Leicester  racing,  and  should  have  dearly  liked  to  see  the 
defunct  monster  prizes  hold  their  own  and  the  best  class 
again  competing  on  the  undulating  course.  At  Oadby,  as 
at  nearly  every  modern  enclosure  except  Gosforth  Park, 
there  are  steeplechase  meetings  in  the  winter,  and  though 
this  branch  of  the  sport  is  in  no  better  case  here  than  it 
is  elsewhere  at  present,  the  course,  owing  to  the  afore- 
mentioned undulations,  is  a  remarkably  good  one.  It  is 
well  seen  from  the  stands  too,  and  there  is  no  prettier  sight 
during  the  winter  season  than  to  see  a  respectable  field  come 
to  the  drop  fence,  immediately  opposite  the  stands,  on  the 
far  side  of  the  course.  As  soon  as  they  have  safely  nego- 
tiated this  jump  the  horses  turn  sharply  left-handed,  and 
I  have  often  noticed  that  the  best  jockeys  secure  such  an 
advantage  here  that  they  have  practically  won  their  race 
at  this  particular  turn.  Some  of  the  steeplechasing  at 
Oadby  used  to  be  (and  may  be  yet)  over  ridge  and  furrow, 
and  this  was  a  good  deal  more  natural  than  the  wholly 
artificial  course  so  much  in  vogue  just  now.  Chasers  that 
can  win  pretty  easily  over  the  Oadby  Course  are  generally 
good  to  follow. 

Nottingham  Races,  which  used  to  be  held  almost  in  the 
town  itself  (I  believe  the  spot  was  once  a  part  of  Sherwood 
Forest),  have  been  transferred  to  Colwick  Park,  in  low-lying 
park  land,  close  by  the  River  Trent.  There  is  a  two-mile 
round  course  with  a  straight  mile.  Though  so  near  the 
river  the  course  is  on  sound,  well-drained  old  turf,  and  is 
generally  very  good  going.  The  programmes  are  of  a  good 
second-rate  sort.  Not  the  best  of  class  is  seen  here,  nor 
yet  the  worst,  the  happy  medium  being  well  hit,  both  with 
regard  to  prizes  and  to  the  average  class  of  runners.  There 
are  some  capital  cross-country  prizes  during  the  winter,  and 


202  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  place,  popular  with  owners,  trainers,  and  the  general 
public,  is  on  the  high  road  to  success,  both  financially  and 
from  a  racing  point  of  view. 

The  new  Birmingham  Course  has  been  laid  out  on  very 
sensible  lines,  and  as  regards  the  placing  of  the  stands 
it  is  a  perfect  model  of  what  a  racecourse  ought  to  be. 
Those  who  were  responsible  for  the  job  evidently  took 
note  of  the  mistakes  which  had  been  made  with  regard  to 
several  comparatively  recently-built  enclosures,  and  profited 
by  them.  The  result  is  that  the  racing,  and  particularly 
the  finishes,  can  be  better  seen  at  Birmingham  than  at  many 
other  places,  and  it  may  be  added  that  the  course  is  a  good 
one.  As  a  very  modern  enclosure  it  has  had  a  great  deal 
to  contend  with.  A  new  venture  very  often  cannot  procure 
good  dates,  and  this  applies  especially  to  those  places  which 
are  a  hundred  miles  or  more  from  town.  Such  places  have 
either  to  take  Monday  and  Tuesday,  or  Friday  and  Saturday, 
and  even  then  they  seldom  obtain  a  clear,  unopposed  fixture. 
In  consequence  they  must  depend  upon  the  local  population 
for  the  greater  part  of  their  attendances,  and  very  often 
also — as  when  they  clash  with  a  more  important  fixture — 
upon  a  local  ring.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  followers  of 
racing  they  cannot  get  unless  they  have  the  most  important 
meeting  of  that  particular  date,  and  as  regards  Birmingham 
this  is  seldom  possible,  the  fixtures  often  clashing  with 
others  at  Kempton,  Hurst  Park,  or  somewhere  else  in  the 
London  district.  So  far  as  having  to  take  Monday  is  con- 
cerned, the  fact  that  numbers  of  frequenters  of  "  Tattersall's  " 
have  to  be  sacrificed  is  compensated  for  in  the  Midlands  by 
the  very  general  way  holiday  is  kept  on  that  day. 

There  is  an  upper  section  of  racing  men  of  every  branch. 
There  is  an  upper  section  of  owners,  of  trainers,  of  jockeys, 
of  gentlemen  backers,  of  bookmakers,  and  of  votaries  of 
the  sport  of  every  description.  Such  go  to  Newmarket 
eight  times  a  year,  Ascot,  Epsom  (twice),  Goodwood, 
Doncaster,  York,  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Lincoln,  Derby, 
and  times  without  number  to  Sandown,  Kempton,  Gatwick, 
and  other  Metropolitan  fixtures.  Many  of  them  also  take 
on  such  places  as  Chester,  Stockton,  Redcar,  Bath,  and 


MODERN   ENCLOSED    COURSES     203 

the  Bibury  Club  Meeting.  Their  work  is  generally  cut  out 
for  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  season,  and  they  have 
no  time  to  turn  their  attention  to  smaller  Midland  meetings, 
held  either  when  something  more  important  is  on  or  at  the 
beginning  or  end  of  the  week.  This  applies  most  particularly 
to  those  places  which  have  not  clear  dates,  which  must  there- 
fore depend  greatly  upon  local  resources  of  attendance  and 
ring,  and  also  upon  horses  trained  in  "  little  "  stables  (which 
run  at  the  country  meetings),  upon  the  second  rank  of  jockeys, 
and  altogether  upon  the  lower  section  of  the  racing  world. 
We  do  not  use  the  word  "lower"  in  any  uncomplimentary 
sense,  but  merely  as  indicating  that  everything  cannot  be 
of  the  highest  standard.  Now  Birmingham  has  its  stands 
on  raised  ground  ;  it  has  a  hill — an  admirable  coign  of 
vantage — from  which  the  "  bob  a  nob "  gentry  can  view 
the  racing ;  it  has  a  two-mile  course,  with  a  straight  run-in 
of  six  furlongs ;  it  has  a  straight  course  of  ten  furlongs, 
and  it  is  reached  in  twenty-five  minutes  by  cab  from  the 
heart  of  the  town  ;  it  lies  midway  between  two  stations 
of  the  Midland  Railway,  and  horses  can  be  unboxed  a 
few  hundred  yards  from  the  stables.  Were  it  situated  close 
to  London  it  would  do  big  things,  but  being  where  it  is, 
it  is  likely  to  remain  the  scene  of  fair  second-class  racing 
and  nothing  more.  With  better  dates  doubtless  a  better 
show  could  be  made,  and  one  would  like  to  see  the  place 
encouraged  with  a  mid-week,  unopposed  fixture. 

Dunstall  Park  is  an  assured  success,  and  has  been  so 
for  many  years  past.  The  Dunstall  executive  have  never 
flown  at  high  game,  but  have  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
their  way  with  second-rate  flat-race  meetings  in  the  summer 
and  plenty  of  jumping  fixtures  in  the  winter.  The  jumping 
meetings  at  this  enclosure  are  nearly  always  productive  of 
wonderful  fields  and  capital  sport,  and  the  place  has  become 
quite  a  nursery  of  chasers,  and  occupies  much  the  same 
place  with  regard  to  Midland  cross-country  sport  that 
Plumpton  does  in  the  South  of  England.  From  its  earliest 
days  Dunstall  Park  was  popular  with  the  native  population, 
and  really  the  men  of  Wolverhampton  seem  to  be  just  as 
keen  on  racing  as  the  inhabitants  of  Leicester  are  the 


204  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

reverse.  I  have  seen  them  pour  into  the  Dunstall  Park 
enclosure  in  their  thousands  on  a  public  holiday,  and  a 
jumping  meeting  they  dearly  love.  The  course,  quite  a 
short  walk  from  Wolverhampton  Station,  is  pretty  enough 
when  you  get  there,  in  spite  of  somewhat  dismal  surround- 
ings, and  is  flat  and  over  a  mile  and  five  furlongs  round. 
There  is  a  fine  range  of  stands,  and  if  the  flat-racing  never 
rises  to  great  heights  the  meetings  serve  their  turn,  and  are 
very  popular  all  through  the  Western  Midlands. 

Manchester  is  a  great  racing  centre,  and  the  three  meet- 
ings which  are  held  there  for  flat-racing  may  be  considered 
to  be  quite  in  the  first  class.  At  each  of  the  three  strong 
programmes  are  issued,  and  though  there  is  some  inequality 
about  the  sport  it  on  the  whole  takes  high  rank.  The 
inequality  is  caused  by  the  number  of  Selling  Plates ;  but, 
after  all,  it  is  impossible  to  have  a  succession  of  Ascots, 
and  if  there  are  many  races  with  selling  conditions  at  New 
Barns,  there  is  always  one  event  of  the  first  importance  on 
each  racing  day,  and  sometimes  two  or  three  such.  Making 
exceptions  of  such  places  as  Doncaster  and  Goodwood, 
Liverpool  Spring  and  York  August  Meetings,  there  is  no 
provincial  racecourse  which  draws  like  Manchester,  and  no 
Northern  racecourse  which  attracts  so  many  Southern  race- 
goers. It  goes  without  saying  that  the  three  meetings  have 
clear  and  very  suitable  dates,  but  the  racing  is  always  good 
enough  to  attract  at  least  a  portion  of  what  I  have  termed 
the  upper  section  of  the  Turf,  and  the  prizes  valuable  enough 
to  bring  out  many  of  the  best-class  horses  in  training. 
Manchester  is  well  off  for  fairly  good  hotels,  and  in  such 
a  large  and  important  town  the  tariff  is  not  raised  at  race 
times  any  more  than  it  is  when  some  social  or  business 
congress  is  being  held.  The  Queen's  Hotel  secures  the  pick 
of  the  travellers,  and  this  establishment  is  unrivalled  among 
provincial  hotels,  especially  in  the  matter  of  cuisine.  Year 
after  year  and  meeting  after  meeting  the  same  parties 
assemble  at  the  "  Queen's,"  and  many  of  the  regular  visitors 
stay  there  for  the  Liverpool  meetings  as  well,  Aintree  being 
well  within  a  fifty-minute  run  of  the  Manchester  Central 
Station,  ten  minutes'  walk  from  the  Queen's  Hotel.  At 


f 
MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     205 

the  "Albion"  the  better  class  of  trainers,  jockeys,  and 
professional  racing  men  are  regular  customers,  and  in 
addition  the  "Grand,"  the  "Victoria,"  the  "Palatine,"  and 
a  host  of  others  accommodate  their  quota. 

From  the  hotels  to  the  course  a  drive  of  about  twenty 
minutes  must  be  taken  by  cab,  but  the  tariff  is  not  high, 
and  there  are  none  of  the  excessive  charges  which  do  so 
much  to  harm  many  of  the  country  meetings.  The  drive 
through  squalid  and  dirty  streets  is  not  invigorating,  but 
the  course,  considering  its  position,  is  pleasant  enough,  and 
the  savoury  slums  of  Salford  are  quickly  forgotten  when  one 
passes  through  the  gate  into  the  flower-bedizened  gravel 
paddock,  with  its  trim  footpaths  and  sparkling  fountains. 
In  the  matter  of  floral  display  the  New  Barns  executive 
cannot  rival  such  places  as  Kempton  or  Lingfield,  but  they 
do  their  best  to  make  an  otherwise  ugly  spot  pretty,  and 
if  their  flowers  do  not  bloom  as  they  do  in  the  South,  it 
is  the  fault  of  the  climate  rather  than  of  the  Manchester 
gardeners.  The  course  is  the  worst  thing  about  New  Barns. 
Good  management  is  there  and  plenty  of  money  behind 
it,  and  good  management  and  good  money  mean  good 
sport,  but  in  spite  of  all  these  advantages  the  course  is 
only  a  poor  one.  The  straight  course  is  only  long  enough 
to  allow  of  five-furlong  races  being  run  on  it,  but  the  round 
course  of  a  mile  and  a  half  is  good  enough,  as  far  as  physical 
conformation  goes,  and  it  is  really  only  the  going  which  has 
to  be  found  fault  with.  At  times  this  going  is  very  bad, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  course  was  laid  on  marshy  land, 
and  that  there  is  little  real  subsoil.  The  whole  ground  is 
artificial,  and  though  everything  possible  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  deep  drainage,  it  sometimes  happens  in  wet 
weather  that  the  going  becomes  so  rotten  as  to  be  absolutely 
dangerous.  Thus,  when  La  Fleche  won  the  Lancashire 
Plate  in  1892,  St.  Angelo  was  a  victim  of  the  treacherous 
ground  in  one  of  the  most  curious  accidents  that  ever  were 
seen  on  a  racecourse. 

The  horses  were  just  inside  the  distance-post,  and  St.  Angelo 
was  going  very  strongly  close  to  the  rails.  Webb,  who  had 
the  mount,  had  just  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  be  first 


206  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

or  second,  when  suddenly  the  ground  gave  way  under  his 
horse's  feet  and  he  came  down  a  terrible  cropper.      Luckily 
neither  horse  nor  jockey  was  seriously  hurt,  but  it  was  a 
curious  affair,  the  ground  being  entirely  to  blame,  as  the 
horse  did  not  cross  his  legs  or  do  anything  to  bring  about 
the  fall.    A  very  similar  thing  happened  to  the  writer  during 
one  winter,  when  crossing  a  ploughed  field  behind  a  pack  of 
foxhounds.     It  was  nearly  dark  at  the  time,  and  the  field 
had  been  recently  drained,  so  that  the  loose  earth  thrown 
on  to  the  top  of  the  drain-pipes  had  not  had  time  to  become 
hard  and  settled.      I  was  going  fast,  and  all  of  a  sudden 
down  went  one  foreleg  into  loose  soil,  and  over  I  came.     In 
my  case  a  dirty  coat  and  a  saddle  full  of  mud  were  the  only 
evil  consequences,  but  then   I  had  plenty  of  room  to  fall, 
and  no  rushing  field  of  horses  at  one  side  and  a  dangerous 
rail   at   the   other.     A  friend  caught  my  horse,  and  as  he 
brought  him  exclaimed,  "  That's  just  the  way  St.  Angelo  fell 
at  Manchester  through  the  ground  giving  away."    St.  Angelo 
was  owned  by  the  late  Duchess  of  Montrose,  who  had  a 
pretty  way  of  putting  things,  and  who,  when  asked  about 
St.  Angelo,  remarked,  "  Mine  disappeared    into   the   main 
drain  just  when  he  looked  like  winning."     This  recalls  to 
my  mind  a  very  smart  answer  I  heard  the  Duchess  give. 
It  was  some  years  ago,  and  at  a  time  when  the  all-scarlet 
had  been  having  a  run  of  shockingly  bad  luck.     The  change 
came  at  Ascot,  when  two  races  were  unexpectedly  won  on  the 
same  afternoon.      The  Duchess  saw  the  finish  of  the  last 
race  from  outside ;   she  was,  in  fact,  standing  on  the  course 
close  to  the  judge's  box.     As  she  returned  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  weighing-room  many  of  her  friends  con- 
gratulated her,  and  amongst  others  the  late  Major  Egerton, 
the   handicapper   for   the   meeting.      "  I    congratulate   you, 
Duchess,"  said  the  Major ;  "very  glad  your  luck  has  turned." 
Quietly  the   Duchess   turned    round,  and  in  a  deep  voice 
answered  very  slowly,  "  No  thanks  to  you.  Major ;    it  was 
not  a  handicap." 

Returning  to  Manchester,  the  first  flat-racing  meeting  of 
the  three  held  there  is  at  Whitsuntide,  and  extends  over 
four  days,  from  Wednesday  to  Saturday  inclusive.  Whit 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     207 

week  is  the  great  annual  holiday  of  Cottonopolis,  and  as 
the  weather  is  generally  fine,  the  attendances  are  enormous, 
more  particularly  on  Friday,  when  the  Manchester  Cup  is 
the  chief  event  on  the  card.  The  arrangement  of  the  pro- 
gramme for  the  four  days  has  occasionally  been  changed, 
but  of  late  the  Summer  Breeders'  Foal  Plate  has  been  the 
big  event  of  the  first  day,  while  on  the  second  day,  though 
no  particular  race  has  stood  out,  there  have  been  four  prizes 
averaging  a  "  monkey  "  apiece  in  value,  viz.  the  De  Trafford 
Handicap  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  the  Beaufort  Handicap 
of  five  furlongs,  the  John  o'  Gaunt  Plate  for  two-year-olds, 
and  the  Derby  Plate,  a  mile  weight-for-age  race  for  three- 
year-olds  and  upwards.  On  Friday,  besides  the  Manchester 
Cup,  there  is  the  City  Plate  for  two-year-olds  and  the  Wilton 
Welter  Handicap,  and  on  Saturday  the  Salford  Borough 
Handicap  of  £1,000  an<^  tne  Whitsuntide  Plate  of  the  same 
value  for  two-year-olds.  Some  years  ago,  before  the  altera- 
tion of  Rule  45,  this  Whitsuntide  Plate  used  to  be  worth 
four  or  five  times  as  much  as  it  now  is,  and  in  1888  Donovan 
sustained  one  of  his  few  defeats  in  it,  being  beaten  by  Chitta- 
bob,  who  had,  however,  the  best  of  the  weights.  The  race 
has  been  won  by  Briar-root,  who  scored  in  the  One  Thousand 
Guineas  a  year  later,  and  also  by  the  beautiful  Signorina, 
who  always  ran  well  on  the  Manchester  Course.  Indeed, 
the  Whitsuntide  Plate  has  a  smart  bead-roll  of  winners, 
and  for  a  few  years,  when  the  prize  was  so  large,  it  to  a 
certain  extent  discounted  the  two-year-old  racing  at  Ascot, 
there  being  no  two-year-old  race  at  the  Royal  meeting  of 
half  the  value. 

The  Manchester  Cup  is  undoubtedly  the  most  popular  race 
of  the  Whitsuntide  Meeting.  It  is  of  £2,000  value,  and  is 
run  on  a  course  of  a  mile  and  six  furlongs,  the  start  taking 
place  some  few  hundred  yards  below  the  stand.  The  race 
dates  from  1834,  and  the  greatest  performance  ever  achieved 
in  it  was  that  of  Isonomy,  who  beat  a  field  of  twenty  in 
1880  with  9  st.  I2lbs.  in  the  saddle.  This  stands  out  as  one 
of  the  best  handicap  efforts  of  all  time,  and  only  a  fortnight 
later  Mr.  Gretton's  great  horse  won  the  Ascot  Cup  for  the 
second  year  in  succession.  Another  great  performance, 


208  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

though  an  unsuccessful  one,  was  that  of  The  Bard  in  1886, 
when  the  little  son  of  Petrarch — who  is  now  a  successful 
sire  in  France — was  second  to  Riversdale,  the  winner  being 
in  receipt  of  an  enormous  amount  of  weight.  Within  a 
week  or  two  of  the  same  date  The  Bard  made  a  fair  fight 
with  Ormonde  for  the  Derby,  and  though  he  did  not  win 
the  Manchester  Cup  I  have  often  thought  that  his  name 
might  well  be  placed  in  the  frieze  at  the  top  of  the  Press 
stand,  where  the  names  of  the  Cup  winners  are  handed  down 
to  posterity.  Other  good-class  winners  of  this  race  may 
be  mentioned  in  Umpire  (8  st.  I2lbs.),  Carlton  (8  st.  9lbs.), 
L'Abbesse  de  Jouarre  (8  st.  6  Ibs.),  and  Florizel  II.  (8  st.  I  lb.). 
The  race  always  brings  out  much  of  the  best  long-distance 
form  of  the  day,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  handicaps 
of  the  year. 

The  September  Meeting  is  held  a  fortnight  after  Don- 
caster,  and  in  most  years  extends  over  three  days.  The 
programme  is  about  as  strong  as  the  earlier  one,  and 
includes  the  Autumn  Breeders'  Foal  Plate  for  two-year- 
olds,  worth  about  ,£1,000 ;  the  De  TrafTord  Handicap  of  a 
mile  and  a  half,  worth  half  the  amount ;  the  September 
Handicap  of  five  furlongs,  also  worth  £500 ;  the  Lancaster 
Nursery,  of  the  same  value ;  the  Palatine  Plate,  of  about 
;£  1,100,  for  three-year-olds ;  the  Michaelmas  Plate,  of  £500, 
for  two-year-olds ;  and  the  Prince  Edward  Handicap  of 
£2,000,  which  latter  race  took  the  place  of  the  Lancashire 
Plate  in  1894.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  Lancashire  Plate  could 
not  be  continued,  for  no  mammoth  prize  produced  more 
spirited  contests,  and  it  was  never  won  by  a  bad  horse. 
Such  names  as  Donovan,  Seabreeze,  Amphion,  Signorina, 
Raeburn,  and  La  Fleche  are  on  its  short-lived  list  of 
winners,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Raeburn,  all  six  were 
of  the  very  best  class.  Signorina  defeated,  amongst  others, 
Orme,  who  was  then  a  two-year-old,  the  race  being  at  that 
time  run  over  a  seven-furlong  course.  Martagon,  Alicante,  and 
Gouverneur  were  likewise  among  the  beaten  lot,  and  the  finish 
between  Signorina,  Orme,  and  Martagon  was  most  exciting, 
the  race  being  only  won  in  the  last  few  strides.  Webb, 
who  had  the  mount  on  Chevalier  Ginistrelli's  mare,  fairly 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     209 

excelled  himself,  but  in  the  following  year  he  came  to  grief 
— as  has  already  been  mentioned — when  St.  Angelo  came 
down.  On  that  occasion  La  Fleche  beat  the  four-year-old 
Orvieto  at  2  Ibs.,  winning  by  three  lengths ;  and  this,  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  was  the  biggest  thing  Baron  Hirsch's  mare 
ever  did,  as  there  was  nothing  of  Orvieto's  class  in  the 
Cambridgeshire,  which  she  won  six  weeks  later  under 
8  st.  lolbs.  If  one  may  take  collateral  form  as  a  guide,  this 
race  suggests  that  La  Fleche  could  have  emulated  the 
Minting  feat,  by  winning  the  Jubilee  Stakes  in  the  following 
year  with  10  st.  From  Orvieto  at  Manchester  all  she  got 
was  2  Ibs.  for  the  year,  yet  Mr.  Houldsworth's  horse  was 
good  enough  to  win  cleverly  at  Kempton  eight  months 
afterwards  with  9  st.  5  Ibs.  in  the  saddle.  I  have  not  too 
much  faith  in  collateral  form,  however. 

In  the  last  year  of  its  existence  the  Lancashire  Plate  was 
won  by  Raeburn,  then  a  three-year-old,  who  had  behind  him 
Isinglass  and  La  Fleche  ;  but  the  winner  had  much  the  best 
of  the  weights,  being  in  receipt  of  i61bs.,  exclusive  of  sex 
allowance,  from  La  Fl£che,  and  of  lolbs.  from  Isinglass,  of 
his  own  age.  The  wetght-for-age  scale  makes  a  four-year- 
old  give  a  three-year-old  9  Ibs.  over  a  mile  in  September. 
Thus  La  Fleche  was  meeting  Raeburn  at  a  disadvantage  of 
7 Ibs.,  or  of  lolbs.  if  we  take  the  sex  allowance  into  con- 
sideration. Even  then  Raeburn,  who  had  finished  third  to 
Isinglass  and  Ravensbury  for  the  Two  Thousand  and  Derby 
(he  did  not  run  in  the  St.  Leger),  won  by  a  length  only, 
and  it  must  be  explained  that  the  race  was  slowly  run  to  the 
top  of  the  straight,  at  which  point  top  speed  was  put  on  for 
the  first  time.  Isinglass,  always  a  lazy  horse,  made  running, 
but  would  not  extend  himself  properly,  and  they  travelled 
down  the  far  side  and  round  the  loop  as  if  they  were  starting 
to  run  a  four-mile  steeplechase.  When  fairly  in  the  line  for 
home  the  pace  was  turned  on,  and  though,  in  my  opinion, 
Isinglass  and  La  Fleche  were  both  catching  Raeburn  fast  at 
the  finish,  the  latter  had  a  nice  turn  of  speed,  and,  served  by 
his  advantage  in  weight,  he  won  very  handsomely.  Rae- 
burn, though  inferior  to  Isinglass  and  Ravensbury,  was 
probably  quite  good  enough  to  win  the  Derby  in  an 


210  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

ordinary  year,  and  was  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  St.  Simon 
tribe,  which  is  not  as  a  rule  remarkable  for  beauty,  that  is,  in 
its  colts.  He  was  far  less  in  stature  than  such  as  Persimmon 
or  St.  Serf,  and  he  showed  more  quality  than  the  Prince  of 
Wales'  great  horse.  Indeed,  he  was  quite  a  little  model  of 
that  peculiar  type  of  thoroughbred,  and  no  horse  of  modern 
times  carried  more  condition.  That  Isinglass  and  La  Fleche 
would  both  have  beaten  him  in  the  Lancashire  Plate  had  the 
race  been  run  at  a  stronger  pace,  I  quite  believe ;  but  I  have 
no  wish  to  disparage  Raeburn's  victory,  and  as  far  as  can  be 
judged  at  the  moment  the  little  horse  looks  like  making  a 
sire. 

The  Autumn  Meeting  at  Manchester  occupies  the  last 
three  days  of  the  racing  year  at  the  end  of  November,  and 
a  serious  drawback  to  this  fixture  lies  in  the  fact  that  more 
often  than  not  the  light  is  very  bad  at  New  Barns  just  about 
then,  with  the  result  that  on  some  days  it  is  impossible  to 
see  the  horses  except  when  they  are  close  to  the  stands. 
Manchester  too  is  famous  amongst  racing  resorts  for  wet 
weather,  and  this  is  usually  sampled  on  at  least  one  day  of 
the  autumn  fixture.  Nevertheless,  everyone  goes  there  just 
the  same.  There  may  not  be  many  ladies  in  the  club  stand, 
but  the  hotels  are  just  as  highly  tried  as  they  are  in  the 
summer,  and  as  it  is  the  last  meeting  of  the  year,  fields  of 
enormous  proportions  go  to  the  post  for  nearly  every  race. 
The  programme  is  not  quite  so  suggestive  of  class  as  at  the 
earlier  meetings,  but  it  includes  many  nice  prizes,  handicaps 
and  nurseries  of  good  value  being  mixed  up  with  selling 
plates — which  take  a  good  deal  of  winning — the  whole 
crowned  with  the  Manchester  November  Handicap  of  about 
;£i,5oo,  which  is  run  on  the  Cup  Course  of  a  mile  and  six 
furlongs,  and  always  attracts  a  good  field  from  the  best  stay- 
ing handicap  horses  in  training.  In  this  race  some  wonderful 
performances  have  been  recorded.  To  mention  a  few  of 
them :  Belphcebe,  as  a  four-year-old,  won  for  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  (then  Lord  Hartington)  with  9  st.  5  Ibs.  in  the 
saddle  ;  Corrie  Roy,  a  few  years  later,  won  under  9  st.  10  Ibs., 
and  her  wonderful  performance  was  beaten  by  that  of 
Carl  ton,  who  was  successful  in  a  field  of  twenty  with  the 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     211 

enormous  burden  of  9  st.  I2lbs.  In  1 894  Ravensbury  carried 
9  st.  4  Ibs.  to  victory,  beating  a  good-class  field  of  eighteen, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  was  as  big  a  performance 
as  that  of  Carlton,  as  Ravensbury  had  behind  him  Cypria, 
who  ran  a  dead-heat  for  the  Caesarewitch ;  Clorane,  winner 
of  the  Lincoln  Handicap,  Royal  Hunt  Cup,  and  a  host  of 
good  races ;  Ragimunde,  successful  in  the  Caesarewitch  and 
Great  Metropolitan  ;  Bushey  Park,  who  won  the  mile  and 
three-quarters  Great  Yorkshire  Handicap  and  also  a  Liver- 
pool Cup ;  Paddy,  who  had  won  this  race  two  years  before  ; 
Dare  Devil,  hero  of  two  Chester  Cups  and  a  Northumberland 
Plate  ;  and  several  other  good  winners.  To  every  one  of  the 
above  Ravensbury  was  giving  a  lot  of  weight,  and  he  won  in 
great  style,  being  ridden  by  Barker,  who  is  chiefly  known  as 
a  steeplechase  jockey. 

Quite  flat  is  the  Manchester  Course,  with  no  gradients 
whatever,  and  naturally  in  the  Cup  races  there  must  be 
a  considerable  amount  of  easing-up  round  the  turns.  The 
run-in,  however,  is  about  a  thousand  yards,  and  dead-level, 
so  that  stamina  is  quite  as  requisite  here  as  it  is  elsewhere, 
and  more  so  than  at  Chester,  for  instance.  Several  steeple- 
chase meetings  are  held  during  the  winter  months,  and  as 
a  general  rule  these  are  well  supported  by  Irish -trained 
horses.  No  doubt  the  executive  make  it  worth  while  for 
owners  to  send  nags  from  the  Curragh  and  elsewhere  to  run 
at  Manchester ;  and  in  the  flat-racing  season  it  often  occurs 
that  some  of  the  most  valuable  prizes  go  to  the  sister  isle. 
Of  the  several  cross-country  fixtures  held  at  New  Barns,  the 
Easter  Meeting  is  the  most  important,  for  its  programme 
includes  the  Lancashire  Handicap  Steeplechase  of  three 
miles  and  a  half,  worth  £2,000,  and  a  hurdle-race  worth  half 
that  amount,  besides  other  valuable  prizes.  The  Lancashire 
Steeplechase  yields  in  importance  only  to  the  Grand 
National,  and  it  is  invariably  productive  of  a  large  field, 
composed  of  the  best-class  cross-country  horses  in  training. 
All  the  same,  the  race  does  not  take  so  much  winning  as  the 
Grand  National,  and,  especially  if  the  going  be  good,  speed 
is  more  served  than  great  jumping  ability  and  excessive 
stamina.  The  fences  are  much  lower  and  more  easily 


212  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

negotiated  than  those  at  Aintree,  and  a  speedy  hurdle-racer, 
who  would  probably  have  come  to  grief  over  the  Liverpool 
Course,  has  before  now  been  known  to  win  the  prize. 

Before  another  year  has  passed  the  Manchester  Races 
will  be  removed  to  a  new  scene  of  action,  the  old  course 
having  been  taken  over  by  the  Ship  Canal  Company.  The 
new  course  is  laid  out  at  Castle  Irwell,  and  will  be  as  easily 
reached  as  that  at  New  Barns.  How  it  will  fare  as  to 
going  and  mist  time  alone  can  show,  but  as  concerns  outlay 
and  forethought  nothing  has  been  spared  to  bring  both 
course  and  stands  up  to  date,  the  architectural  duties  having 
been  placed  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Manning,  of  Newmarket. 

Gosforth  Park  is,  without  exception,  the  finest  enclosed 
course  in  the  kingdom;  and  were  it  only  situated  in  the 
London  district  it  would  probably  be  the  most  popular 
racing-place  of  the  day.  It  is,  however,  not  far  short  of 
300  miles  from  the  Metropolis,  and  very  nearly  six  miles 
from  the  town  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne ;  and  to  make  matters 
worse,  the  nearest  railway  station  is  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  stands.  From  a  sporting  point  of  view  it  has  always 
been  successful,  but  it  took  over  the  old  Newcastle  meetings, 
which  had  been  formerly  held  on  the  Newcastle  Town  Moor, 
about  the  same  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  town  as  is 
the  Doncaster  Racecourse.  Newcastle  Races  were  the  rivals 
of  York  and  Doncaster  in  the  North,  and  the  sport  shown 
was  of  quite  as  good  class.  In  earlier  days  the  Newcastle 
Cup,  in  connection  with  which  Beeswing,  Dr.  Syntax,  and 
X  Y  Z  are  familiar  names,  was  the  principal  event ;  but  in 
1833  the  Northumberland  Plate  was  instituted,  and  since 
then  there  has  been  no  more  popular  race  run  north  of  the 
Trent,  the  Doncaster  St.  Leger  alone  excepted.  Why  the 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  Town  Moor — a  good  course  with  one 
sharp  turn,  which  might  easily  have  been  improved — was 
vacated  by  the  then  executive  I  never  knew ;  but  some 
eighteen  years  ago  the  Gosforth  Park  Estate  of  about  800 
acres  was  acquired,  and  the  three  meetings — Spring,  Summer, 
and  Autumn — removed  there.  Owing  to  a  large  capital 
having  been  sunk  (the  company  had  acquired  far  more  land 
than  was  necessary  for  the  laying  down  of  a  racecourse),  the 


MODERN  ENCLOSED   COURSES     213 

new  venture  hardly  paid  its  way  at  first,  but  all  the  difficulties 
have  long  since  been  overcome,  and  the  Gosforth  Park 
Company  is  now  a  prosperous,  dividend-paying  concern. 
Its  course  is  a  magnificent  one ;  both  the  round  course  of  a 
mile  and  three-quarters  and  the  straight  mile  are  of  great 
width,  and  as  the  stands  are  nicely  placed  above  them,  a 
splendid  view  of  the  racing  is  always  possible.  The  club 
stand  and  private  boxes  were  formed  from  the  old  house, 
and  the  public  stands  are  joined  on.  What  was  once  a 
pleasure  garden  was  turned  into  a  spacious  paddock,  in 
which  are  situated  the  business  rooms  —  weighing-room, 
jockeys'  dressing-rooms,  Press-room,  etc. — of  the  company. 
From  Newcastle-on-Tyne  the  drive  is  pleasant  enough,  as 
the  old  North  Road  over  the  Town  Moor  and  through  the 
village  of  Gosforth  is  taken.  No  slums  are  passed  through 
as  at  Manchester,  and  the  "going"  is  so  sound  that  the 
Newcastle  cabs  perform  the  journey  in  little  over  half  an 
hour.  At  the  park  gates  a  turn  is  made,  and  inside  the 
road  winds  through  a  splendid  grove  of  rhododendrons  which 
extends  right  up  to  the  paddock.  The  racecourse  stands 
high  with  fine  views  and  a  southerly  aspect,  and  the  turf  is 
old  and  sound  except  the  first  two  furlongs  of  the  new  mile, 
which  were  laid  down  (they  are  sound  enough  now)  when 
the  company  acquired  the  property.  The  course  has  not 
the  scenic  properties  of  Goodwood  ;  but  it  is  managed  on 
the  club  system,  and  has  all  the  advantages  of  the  modern 
style  combined  with  such  a  wonderful  course.  There  is 
so  much  space  too  everywhere,  and  if  one  avoids  the 
passage  behind  the  stands,  no  crowding  whatever,  even  on 
a  Northumberland  Plate  day,  when  about  50,000  people 
visit  the  park. 

The  Spring  Meeting  is  held  on  Easter  Monday  and 
Tuesday,  and  is  chiefly  of  local  interest,  with  a  majority 
of  runners  drawn  from  the  Northern  training  stables.  The 
Summer  Meeting,  of  three  days,  takes  place  towards  the 
end  of  June,  but  unfortunately  this  meeting  nowadays  is 
invariably  opposed  by  something  nearly  as  good  in  the 
South  of  England.  It  very  often  clashes  with  two  days  of 
Windsor  and  one  day  of  Sandown,  and  occasionally  it  has 


214  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

fallen  in  the  Bibury  Club  and  Stockbridge  week.  Anyhow, 
it  never  has  even  one  of  its  three  days  to  itself;  and  this 
is  a  somewhat  serious  matter  for  Gosforth  Park,  as  the  rail- 
way journey  from  London  to  Newcastle-on-Tyne  is  only  a 
matter  of  six  hours  now,  and  were  there  no  opposition 
easier  of  access,  the  Northumberland  Plate  would  draw  a 
far  greater  number  of  Southern  race-goers  than  it  does. 
Another  drawback  to  the  date  is  that  the  London  season 
is  still  in  progress,  and  from  this  cause  many  owners  and 
their  friends  are  often  absentees,  though  they  may  send 
horses  to  the  meeting.  I  have  often  thought  that  an  early 
autumn  meeting  should  do  well  at  Gosforth,  instead  of  the 
present  fixture  late  in  October.  The  last-named,  like  the 
Spring  Meeting,  is  only  a  local  affair ;  but  a  meeting  held  in 
August,  when  the  Northern  Circuit  is  in  full  swing,  and 
when  many  of  the  owners  are  already  located  in  the  North 
for  the  shooting,  would  surely  be  a  success.  At  the  time  of 
year  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  procure  Newmarket  and 
other  Southern-trained  horses,  as  Redcar,  Stockton,  and 
York  do  ;  and  it  seems  a  pity  that  while  we  have  a  month 
of  Northern  racing  in  August  and  early  September,  Gos- 
forth Park,  with  the  finest  course  of  all,  should  not  have 
a  turn.  I  write  "  finest  course  of  all "  advisedly,  for  there 
is  no  awkward  bend  close  home  at  Gosforth  as  there  is  at 
Doncaster,  and  it  has  a  much  better  mile  than  is  to  be  found 
at  York,  though  the  round  course  at  the  last-named  place 
has  few  superiors. 

The  spring  programme  contains  prizes  good  enough  to 
attract  the  pick  of  the  Yorkshire-trained  horses,  and  there 
is  always  a  sprinkling  of  Southerners  as  well.  The  Summer 
Meeting  is  a  very  different  affair,  with  valuable  prizes  offered 
on  each  day.  The  meeting  begins  on  Tuesday,  when  the 
North  Derby  for  three-year-olds  is  the  most  important  race. 
The  stake  is  worth  about  £1,500,  the  distance  a  mile  and  a 
half,  and  the  race  generally  attracts  several  of  the  best  of  the 
second  rank  of  the  year.  A  Biennial  for  two-year-olds  is 
also  run  for  on  this  day.  On  Wednesday  the  Northumber- 
land Plate  is  the  great  attraction,  and  this  race  arouses 
extraordinary  local  interest.  What  the  Derby  is  to 


MODERN   ENCLOSED   COURSES     215 

Londoners,  the  St.  Leger  and  Ebor  Handicap  to  York- 
shire folk,  the  Chester  Cup  to  dwellers  in  the  North-western 
Midlands,  the  Northumberland  Plate  is  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Northumberland  and  Durham.  It  is  talked  of  all  through 
the  spring  and  early  summer,  and  the  local  bookies  are  all 
busily  employed  over  it  long  before  the  weights  make  their 
appearance.  In  Newcastle-on-Tyne  countless  "  sweeps  "  are 
subscribed  to  and  drawn,  Northumberland  Plate  dinners  are 
given,  and  all  business  is  practically  suspended.  The  mining 
population  are  the  staunchest  supporters  of  the  race.  They 
save  up  their  money  in  order  that  they  may  attend,  and 
though  they  are  not  seen  in  such  countless  thousands  as 
they  used  to  be  when  the  race  was  run  on  the  Town  Moor, 
they  nevertheless  swarm  to  Gosforth,  where  I  believe  they 
form  a  larger  crowd  than  has  ever  been  known  at  a  Metro- 
politan enclosure  on  even  the  brightest  of  bank  holidays. 
When  a  popular  horse  or  popular  colours  win  they  know 
how  to  cheer  too,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  reception 
they  accorded  to  Webb  and  poor  Fred  Archer  when  the 
two,  riding  Hampton  and  Glendale  respectively,  ran  home 
locked  together  in  the  Northumberland  Plate  of  1877.  This 
was  one  of  the  tightest  fits  the  race  has  ever  known.  Hamp- 
ton, the  ex-selling  plater  and  hurdle-racer,  had  then  about 
reached  the  top  of  his  form,  but  he  had  to  put  up  the 
heavy  burden  of  8  st.  12  Ibs.,  and  met  the  very  useful  Glen- 
dale  (by  Blair  Athol)  at  a  disadvantage  of  13  Ibs.  The 
last-named,  being  locally  owned,  was  favourite  with  the 
crowd,  but  Hampton  beat  him  cleverly,  as  I  describe  in  the 
chapter  on  sires.  Many  famous  names  may  be  found  in 
the  long  list  of  Northumberland  Plate  winners,  and  supreme 
favourites  with  the  local  folk  were  Underhand,  who  won 
three  years  in  succession,  and  the  St.  Leger  winner  Caller 
Ou,  who  scored  both  as  a  five-  and  a  six-year-old.  In  1883 
Barcaldine  won  the  race  under  9  st.  10  Ibs.,  and  this  was 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  performance  the  Northumberland 
Plate  has  known.  The  mighty  Irishman  did  not  start 
favourite,  it  being  generally  thought  that  he  was  set  an 
impossible  task.  He  had  to  give  17  Ibs.  to  a  horse  named 
Shrewsbury,  who  was  a  representative  of  good  winning 


216  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

form,  and  who  was  looked  upon  as  a  certainty  by  his  trainer 
and  friends.  However,  in  the  race  Barcaldine  proved  what 
a  wonderful  horse  he  was  by  an  easy  two-length  victory, 
and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  he  could  have  won 
with  10  st.  up.  The  performance,  considering  that  it  was 
achieved  in  a  two-mile  handicap,  takes  very  high  rank, 
and  I  know  of  nothing  which  has  equalled  it  during  the 
last  twenty  years.  Of  late  years  class  has  not  been  quite 
so  well  represented  in  the  Northumberland  Plate,  but 
thousand-pound  handicaps  are  now  of  almost  everyday 
occurrence,  and  horses  are  not  kept  for  the  race  as  they 
once  were. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  meeting  the  Seaton  Delaval  Stakes, 
worth  from  ;£i,ooo  to  £1,500,  is  a  much-coveted  two-year-old 
prize ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  recent  legislation  of  the 
Jockey  Club  with  regard  to  long-distance  running  will 
bring  about  a  reinstitution  of  the  Newcastle  Gold  Cup,  the 
Gosforth  round  course  being,  like  Gatwick,  exactly  suited  for 
a  cup  contest. 

Scottish  racing  offers  few  attractions  to  English  owners, 
trainers,  and  jockeys ;  and,  except  at  Ayr  in  September,  few 
of  the  average  English  race-goers  attend  the  meetings.  Of 
course,  all  of  them  are  much  more  difficult  of  access  than  are 
Gosforth  Park  and  Carlisle,  but  a  good  programme  is  always 
issued  for  Ayr,  and  several  horses  are  annually  sent  from 
Newmarket  to  the  fixture.  Edinburgh  Races  were  at  one 
time  more  important  than  they  are  now,  but  the  Gold  Cup 
is  still  a  chief  feature  of  the  programme,  and  the  meeting  is 
supported  by  Lord  Rosebery  and  other  Scottish  owners 
who  train  in  England.  There  is  also  an  enclosure  at 
Hamilton  Park,  near  Glasgow,  where  meetings  are  held 
under  both  sets  of  rules  ;  and  meetings  are  held  at  Paisley, 
Perth,  Kelso,  and  Lanark.  Not  many  horses  are  trained  in 
Scotland,  but  the  various  Yorkshire  stables  contribute  their 
supply  of  runners,  and  plenty  of  local  interest  is  everywhere 
forthcoming. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TRAINERS,  TRAINING  GROUNDS,  AND  JOCKEYS 

Smartness  of  modern  trainers — Their  various  duties—"  Placing  "—Price  of  train- 
ing— Trainer's  knowledge  as  to  his  horse's  chance  of  winning— Stable  lads — 
Apprentices— Jockeys— Comparison  of  old-time  with  present  jockeys — Brains 
necessary — As  advisers  to  stable— Cupidity  and  its  results— Earnings— Hand- 
some retainers — Newmarket  as  a  training  quarter — Good  and  bad  years — 
Typical  good  year — Reasons  why  owners  train  at  Newmarket — Notable  New- 
market trainers — American  trainers  at  Newmarket — Their  wonderful  successes 
— "Doping" — Royal  Flush— Gentlemen  trainers — Mr.  George  Lambton — 
Captain  Beatty — Kingsclere — John  Porter's  winnings  in  stake  money — The 
Cannons — Danebury — Garlogs  —  Berkshire  and  Wiltshire  trainers  —  Sam 
Darling's  classic  successes— Kilcock— Galtee  More— W.  Robinson's  handicap 
successes— The  Taylors  of  Manton— Dorsetshire  trainers— Sir  Charles  Nugent 
— Mr.  George  Thursby — Sussex  stables — Epsom  trainers — The  Midlands — 
Exton  Park — Hednesford — Stanton — Royston — Thetford — Mr.  Musker's  suc- 
cesses with  two-year-olds — Northern  and  Southern  rivalry — Elsey  of  Baumber 
— Yorkshire  training  grounds — Malton — William  I'Anson — His  successes — 
Self- Sacrifice — Her  St.  Leger  trial — Chittabob— I'Anson's  purchases  of  platers 
— The  best  jockeys  of  the  day — As  good  as  their  predecessors — Their  chief 
faults — The  lesson  of  Sloan — The  American  seat — Owners  and  American 
jockeys. 

THE  importance  of  the  part  which  the  trainer  plays  in 
racing  can  scarcely  be  over-estimated,  and  if  there  be 
any  who  think  that  the  position  he  now  holds  contrasts  too 
strongly  with  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  our  racing  fore- 
runners, they  will  do  well  to  pause  and  consider  how  different 
are  the  responsibilities,  and  how  much  more  exacting  in 
many  ways  are  the  demands  of  the  day.  From  one  point 
of  view  one  could  divide  the  trainers  into  two  divisions,  those 
that  train  at  Newmarket  forming  one  of  them.  It  is  easy 
to  realise  that  where  so  many  reside  within  short  distances 
of  one  another  rivalry  in  other  matters  than  the  training  of 

317 


218  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

horses  sets  in,  and  as  one  consequence  Newmarket  can 
challenge  the  world  with  its  collection  of  handsome  and 
comfortable  residences,  to  some  of  which  the  word  sumptuous 
might  almost  be  applied,  with  their  fine  gardens,  trim  lawns 
for  croquet  and  lawn-tennis,  billiard-rooms,  and  cellars  con- 
taining choice  vintages.  You  will  not  meet  with  elsewhere 
a  better-groomed  set  of  men,  with  whom  it  is  quite  the 
ordinary  thing  to  be  tall-hatted,  frock-coated,  kid-gloved, 
patent-leather-booted,  instead  of  breeched  and  gaitered. 
Their  wives  hold  their  own  in  elegance  and  style,  and  their 
children  are  brought  up  to  appreciate  the  brighter  side  of  a 
trainer's  career.  The  stranger  to  Newmarket  is  lost  in 
wonderment  at  the  residences  of  trainers  that  meet  him 
on  all  hands  as  the  several  roads  radiating  from  the  town 
are  traversed.  Not  one  whit  less  attractive  are  many  of  the 
quarters  of  other  trainers,  such  as  have  their  homes  on  the 
Hampshire  or  Berkshire  downs,  for  instance ;  and  I  have 
more  than  one  lovely  typical  country  place  in  my  mind's 
eye  as  I  write,  but  into  the  lives  of  the  occupants  of  these 
the  stress  of  social  competition  does  not  enter. 

But,  however  he  may  be  housed  or  clothed,  and  whatever 
his  social  aspirations,  it  is  certain  that  the  trainer  to  be 
successful  must  be  a  well-grounded  master  of  his  business. 
It  is  pre-eminently  one  into  which  it  is  impossible  for  the 
incapable  to  enter,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  the  creaseless 
frock-coats,  to  which  sportive  reference  has  been  made,  cover 
stablemen  to  whom  little  remains  to  be  taught  in  the  art  of 
bringing  horses  of  varying  temperaments  and  constitutions 
in  the  very  best  fettle  to  the  starting-post.  Whoever  thinks 
that  because  a  man  likes  to  live  in  a  state  approaching 
luxury,  and  to  dress  according  to  the  fashion,  he  is  merely 
the  "  gilded  popinjay  "  of  his  profession,  is  likely  to  fall  into 
grievous  error.  Whether  our  trainers  live  in  palaces  or 
humble  tenements,  they  form  a  very  sound  and  capable 
body  of  practitioners.  It  is  not  uninteresting  to  compare 
their  present  pecuniary  position  with  that  of  their  prede- 
cessors. Not  long  since  Whitewall,  Malton,  where  John 
Scott  trained  so  many  classic  winners,  was  sold,  with  several 
cottages,  for  no  more  than  £ 1,000.  I  had  visited  the  spot 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  219 

shortly  before,  and  considering  the  tumble-down  state  of  the 
premises  and  the  fact  that  training  at  Malton  is  not  so 
popular  as  it  used  to  be,  I  think  very  nearly  full  value  was 
received.  In  commenting  on  this  sale,  a  writer  in  a  racing 
journal  observed  :  "  As  showing  the  extraordinary  change 
that  has  taken  place,  when  in  the  days  of  Thormanby, 
Dundee,  Buxton,  Student,  Liddington,  and  Lioness  Mat 
Dawson  trained  privately  for  Mr.  Merry  his  salary  was 
£250  per  annum,  and  when  James  Waugh  succeeded  him 
a  great  deal  was  made  of  increasing  this  to  £300.  The 
house  was  of  course  free,  but  the  trainer  had  to  pay  for  his 
own  coal.  All  the  cost  of  fodder  was  borne  by  Mr.  Merry, 
the  trainer  receiving  nothing  extra  per  horse  for  training. 
His  salary  was  to  cover  everything.  We  have  now  at  New- 
market instances  of  the  head  lad  being  paid  a  salary  of 
£500  per  annum,  with  house,  or  just  double  what  Mr.  Merry 
gave  Mat  Dawson  for  training  Derby  winners."  Mention 
of  Mat  Dawson  comes  in  very  appositely,  for  no  one  better 
than  he  could  provide  an  example  to  illustrate  the  actual 
process  of  change.  Whatever  salary  he  was  satisfied  with 
from  Mr.  Merry,  we  may  be  sure  that,  in  his  later  days 
at  Melton  House,  Exning,  and  Heath  House,  nearer  New- 
market, he  could  not  do  with  £300  per  annum.  He  came 
to  Newmarket,  and  very  soon  was  doing  as  Newmarket  did 
in  his  time,  though  this  need  not  suggest  the  least  extrava- 
gance, which  was  quite  out  of  the  clever  Scotsman's  line. 
Of  him  it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  trainer's  lot  was  a  very 
different  thing  when  he  came  into  the  racing  world  from 
what  it  was  when  he  took  leave  of  it  and  the  greater  world 
together  in  1898.  And,  like  others,  he  very  wisely  did  not 
object  to  sharing  in  the  improved  state  of  things.  •— 

If  getting  a  long  string  of  horses  of  all  ages  ready  for 
their  engagements  were  the  sole  occupation  of  a  trainer,  he 
would  have  work  enough  to  do ;  but  a  trainer's  present-day 
duties  involve  much  wider  responsibility  than  this,  for  in 
a  majority  of  cases  the  management  of  the  horses  in  differ- 
ent ownerships  in  the  stable  is  left  to  him.  Give  a  man 
three  animals,  and  tell  him  that  one  is  to  be  prepared  for  the 
Two  Thousand  Guineas  and  Derby,  another  for  the  Oaks, 


220  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

and  a  third  for  the  Ascot  Gold  Cup,  and  his  task  is  simple 
enough.  A  good  horse  is  easier  to  train  than  a  bad  one, 
and  it  should  be  no  more  difficult  to  train  a  winner  of  the 
Derby  than  the  winner  of  a  Selling  Plate.  The  fact  that  in 
times  gone  by  a  certain  man  trained  such  and  such  classic 
winners  does  not  go  so  very  far,  for  he  could  not  have  done 
it  without  suitable  horses.  Had  he  won  the  St.  Leger  with 
a  plater  there  would  be  something  to  crow  about.  To  my 
thinking  these  training  wonders  of  the  past  did  no  more, 
though  no  less,  than  any  capable  trainer  of  to-day  would 
have  done  with  the  same  opportunity.  Let  them  have  full 
credit  for  what  they  did  do,  but  not  to  the  belittlement  of 
their  successors  now  living.  Those  unacquainted  with  the 
life  and  business  of  a  trainer  would  be  very  much  en- 
lightened by  a  day  spent  in  a  large  training  establishment 
where  seventy  horses  or  more  are  taken  charge  of.  Such 
owners  as  Mr.  Merry,  Lord  Falmouth,  and  the  Duke  of 
Westminster  in  the  past,  and  Captain  Machell,  Captain 
Purefoy,  Mr.  Gilpin  in  the  present,  depend  but  little  upon 
their  trainers  for  advice  as  to  running  their  horses.  The 
higher  the  class  of  racing  affected,  the  less  is  the  "  placing  " 
of  a  horse  a  matter  for  consideration,  the  entering  having 
perforce  been  done  usually  before  it  can  be  known  whether 
a  colt  or  filly  is  likely  to  be  of  any  use  on  the  racecourse. 
It  is  when  the  trainer  has  a  number  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
our  thoroughbreds  to  deal  with  that  his  knowledge  of  the 
intricacies  of  the  game  comes  into  play ;  and  with  a  large 
proportion  of  what  are  called  prominent  owners  of  the 
present  day  much  is  necessarily  left  to  the  trainer.  The 
absentee  owner,  with  half  the  world  between  himself  and 
his  horses,  is  no  novelty,  whilst  a  considerable  proportion, 
knowing  nothing  whatever  about  horseflesh,  are  incapable 
of  possessing  opinions  of  the  least  value.  Owners  of  stables 
of  moderate  class,  with  whom  it  is  everything  to  get  their 
horses  into  suitable  races  where  they  are  not  likely  to 
meet  with  strong  opposition,  find  their  time  fully  taken  up 
with  the  management  of  about  fifteen  horses.  What,  then, 
must  the  responsibilities  be  of  trainers  who  have  four  or  five 
times  that  number,  or  even  more,  in  their  stables?  The 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          221 

work  must,  of  course,  be  divided,  and  as  a  trainer  has  to  be 
represented  by  a  man  as  capable  as  himself,  I  see  nothing 
excessive  in  a  salary  of  £500  per  annum  for  a  "  head  lad." 
Knowledge  of  the  kind  required  is  not  to  be  picked  up  by 
mere  routine  like  the  management  of  a  branch  bank,  and 
on  the  frequent  occasions  when  the  trainer  is  absent  at  race 
meetings  the  "head  lad"  is  left  in  sole  charge.  The  re- 
sponsibility involved  justifies  liberal  remuneration.  The  calls 
upon  the  trainer  and  those  under  him  made  by  the  typical 
modern  owner  are  such  as  to  bring  about  material  changes. 
The  trainer  often  finds  himself  in  the  position  of  host  to 
people  accustomed  to  a  high  style  of  living,  and  a  rubbing 
of  the  shoulders  with  that  sort  of  society  is  bound  to  leave 
a  mark. 

Anyone  who  has  had  occasion  to  come  into  at  all  close 
contact  with  one  or  the  other  of  our  prominent  trainers 
rarely  has  cause  for  anything  but  congratulation,  for  a  more 
urbane  and  hospitable  set  of  men  could  not  be  met  with. 
Their  constant  intercourse  with  the  gently  -  bred  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired  in  their  manners,  whilst  the  peculiar 
battle  of  life  they  wage  gives  them  a  deep  insight  into 
character  that  prevents  them  from  at  all  freely  forming 
friendships  which  they  may  presently  have  to  renounce. 
The  more  sure  the  trainer  is  of  his  man,  the  more  sure  is 
the  man  of  the  trainer.  I  advise  everyone  to  whom  the 
opportunity  is  offered  of  spending  a  day  with  a  trainer  to 
avail  himself  of  it.  If  it  is  his  first  visit  he  will  be  con- 
siderably enlightened  as  to  the  many-sided  calls  that  are 
made  upon  the  trainer.  The  racing  layman  even  could  not 
fail  to  derive  pleasure  from  a  mere  flying  visit  to  some 
training  stables,  for  he  would  come  away  impressed  with 
a  wholesome  lesson  of  brightness,  cleanliness,  and  order. 
The  word  dirt  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  trainer's  vocabulary, 
and,  so  far  from  a  broom  or  a  bucket  being  allowed  out  of 
its  place,  that  is  scarcely  permitted  to  a  wisp  of  straw. 

The  sum  of  £2  IDS.  per  week,  which  may  be  taken  as  the 
standard  charge,  with  variations  up  and  down,  may  seem  a 
large  one  to  pay  for  the  care  and  keep  of  a  horse,  but  it 
is  none  too  much  for  the  service  rendered.  If,  as  so  many 


222  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

perforce  have  to,  you  have  to  ask  the  advice  of  your  trainer 
at  every  step  as  to  which  horses  shall  go  for  which  races, 
some  going  so  far  as  to  leave  the  whole  management  in  the 
trainer's  hands,  surely  that  is  worth  something.  It  is  of  course 
to  the  trainer's  interests  that  he  shall  win  races  for  desirable 
clients,  but  it  is  no  part  of  his  contract  that  he  shall  do 
otherwise  than  bring  his  horses  to  the  post  as  fit  for  the 
task  in  hand  as  it  lies  in  his  power  to  make  them.  A  man 
who  comes  on  the  Turf  prepared  to  spend  several  thousands 
per  annum  on  his  amusement,  but  lacking  the  experience  to 
enable  him  to  conduct  his  own  affairs,  cannot  grudge  a  salary 
of  a  few  hundreds  to  a  man  whose  life  has  been  devoted  to 
acquiring  the  necessary  knowledge.  Unless  his  horses  are 
judiciously  "placed"  he  may  not  win  any  races  at  all,  though 
he  may  own  some  good  animals ;  and  to  "  place "  horses 
well  a  trainer  must  know  their  capacities  within  a  few  pounds, 
and  possess  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  "  Races  to  Come." 
With  him  lies  the  onus  of  engaging  jockeys,  suitable  ones 
often  taking  a  deal  of  finding,  and  of  seeing  to  the  transit 
of  horses  to  and  from  the  scene  of  action,  all  of  which  duties 
the  owner  would  find  very  irksome  and  time-consuming  did 
he  undertake  them  himself,  supposing  him  capable  of  doing 
so,  which  by  no  means  goes  with  the  saying. 

In  the  eye  of  the  racing  public  the  trainer  is  the  most 
prominent  person  connected  with  a  horse.  The  owner  comes 
in  for  the  congratulations  when  the  horse  wins,  but  it  is  the 
trainer  who  receives  the  reverence  of  the  multitude.  "  Who 
trains  it  ? "  is  what  is  asked  when  the  claims  of  some  horse 
are  put  forward,  not  "Who  owns  it?"  It  is  the  trainer  who 
influences  an  animal  for  good  or  bad,  and  the  racing  public, 
with  wits  sharpened  by  years  of  dearly-bought  experience, 
will  at  once  form  an  opinion  that  will  not  be  very  wide  of 
the  mark  as  to  his  capacity  for  knowingly  training  a  winner 
of  a  particular  race.  It  is  easily  possible  to  train  a  winner 
without  knowing  it,  but  that,  in  the  present  state  of  Turf 
opinion  and  practice,  is  the  least  desirable  of  accomplish- 
ments that  a  trainer  can  possess.  The  thing  is  to  have  a 
prospective  winner,  and  be  tolerably  sure  of  it  as  well.  It 
is  rumoured  that  trainers  sometimes  bet,  in  which  case  it  is 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  223 

as  well  to  be  able  to  make  an  accurate  forecast,  and,  even 
if  the  trainer  does  not  bet,  the  owner  may ;  and  the  dis- 
appointment of  backing  a  supposed  good  thing,  and  being 
beaten  by  a  head  or  a  neck,  is  nothing  compared  with  the 
aggravation  of  seeing  one's  horse  canter  away  with  a  race 
unbacked  for  a  shilling  because  an  under-estimate  has  been 
formed  of  the  animal's  capacities  by  the  trainer.  The  trainer 
to  whom  this  sort  of  thing  happens  with  any  frequency  soon 
becomes  the  laughing-stock  of  a  world  keenly  on  the  look- 
out for  such  victims. 

Apart  from  the  horses  in  his  charge,  another  responsibility 
rests  upon  a  trainer  which  would  not  occur  to  the  mind  of 
the  casual  observer.  With  respect  to  the  number  of  lads 
employed,  the  trainer  is  much  in  the  position  of  the  proprietor 
of  a  large  seminary,  for  the  lodging  and  feeding  of  the 
"boys"  devolves  upon  him.  It  is  here  that  Mrs.  Trainer  can, 
and  often  does,  play  an  important  role.  Stable  lads,  taken 
as  a  whole,  are  not  promising  material  for  the  fashioning 
of  silk  purses,  but  this  does  not  deter  many  a  trainer's 
wife  from  doing  her  best,  as  her  husband's  representative, 
to  make  her  charges  comfortable  and  happy.  As  a  school 
for  the  acquisition  of  polite  speech  a  training  stable  can 
scarcely  be  recommended  to  parents  and  guardians ;  but  this 
is  not  the  fault  of  the  trainer,  any  more  than  the  petty 
tyrannies  which  schoolboys  practise  upon  one  another  are 
the  fault  of  the  school  proprietor.  The  amelioration  of  the 
stable  boy's  moral  condition  is  a  slow  process  due  to  a 
lack  of  desire  to  be  ameliorated.  A  great  step  was  taken 
when  the  Institute  was  opened  at  Newmarket,  for  there,  of 
course,  is  the  greatest  aggregation  of  stable  hands,  whose 
staple  amusement  in  the  past  was  loafing  in  groups  in 
the  High  Street,  hands  in  pockets,  discussing,  in  the  most 
objectionable  language  available,  the  merits  or  demerits  of 
horses  then  engaging  attention.  Some  remnants  of  this 
pastime  remain,  and  are  to  be  met  with  on  race  nights. 
In  dealing  with  his  apprentices  the  trainer  must  exercise 
much  patience.  The  lads  know  that,  as  apprentices, 
they  have  a  certain  standing,  and  impertinent  or  indolent 
boys  can  give  much  trouble,  as  many  do.  The  trainer  is 


224  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

debarred  from  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands  in  the 
shape  of  a  stick,  so  tact  has  to  be  the  weapon  employed. 
But  for  the  fortunate  fact  that  lads  take  a  real  interest 
in  their  charges  and  aim  at  a  spirit  of  emulation  among 
themselves,  the  management  of  a  training  stable  would  be 
a  still  more  serious  affair  than  it  is. 

Marching  in  line  with  the  trainer  comes  the  jockey,  whose 
life  is  indeed  a  different  one  from  that  of  his  predecessor  of 
half  a  century  ago.  The  exigencies  of  the  times  have  made 
it  so,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  jockey  of 
to-day  rides  any  the  worse  because  he  often  lives  in  elegant 
rooms  and  nearly  always  wears  fine  clothes.  The  jockey  of 
the  first  half  of  the  century,  who  walked  the  horse  he  was 
to  ride  many  a  long  mile  from  meeting  to  meeting,  did  so 
because  there  was  no  alternative,  and  because  the  need  for 
doing  otherwise  had  not  arisen.  Time  was  when  the  process 
of  "vanning"  was  regarded  as  effeminate  luxury — because 
it  was  an  innovation  suggesting  ease.  The  jockey  who 
walked  thereby  kept  himself  in  condition,  but  it  is  not  on 
record  that  he  was  a  healthier  person  than  his  representative 
of  to-day  living  under  an  improved  system  of  hygiene,  or, 
by  reason  of  his  mode  of  life,  a  better  jockey.  Before 
everything  the  jockey  must  have  health,  which  implies  a 
sensible  mode  of  life,  and  to  our  jockeys,  as  a  body, 
must  be  accorded  the  merit  of  leading  abstemious,  judicious 
lives.  When  the  borderline  of  reason  is  overstepped  the 
fact  is  at  once  made  apparent  by  results ;  and  if  the  career 
of  the  successful  jockey  is  one  to  be  envied  for  the  pecuniary 
reward  attached  to  it,  nothing  is  likely  to  be  more  swift 
and  certain  than  the  downfall  of  one  who  fails  through 
transgressions  of  his  own.  One  irrepressible  feature  that 
has  impressed  itself  upon  owners  and  trainers  ever  since 
racing  became  a  widely-practised  sport  has  been  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  obtaining  good  jockeys.  Mate  this  mare  with 
that  stallion,  and  the  chances  are  that  a  racing  foal  will  be 
the  result.  Anyhow,  it  happens  so  often  enough  to  make 
people  persevere  in  the  experiment.  But  there  is  no  such 
royal  road  to  producing  jockeys.  The  difference  is  that  the 
racehorse  need  not  have  any  brains ;  the  jockey  must,  if  he 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          225 

is  to  be  of  any  use.  Good  hands  and  the  embodiment  of 
strength  and  stamina  within  a  pigmy  frame  are  of  no  avail 
without  the  brains  to  utilise  them  advantageously,  and  the 
combination  of  the  separate  characteristics  that  go  to  make 
up  the  great  jockey  is  what  constitutes  the  rarity.  A 
hundred  good  racehorses  appear  for  every  jockey  in  the 
first  class.  There  are  people  who  make  a  living,  and  a 
good  living,  so  far  as  profits  go,  backing  horses,  who  would 
not  dream  of  making  a  bet  until  they  know  the  jockey 
that  is  riding ;  and  the  importance  of  this  precaution  is 
becoming  more  and  more  recognised  by  the  rank  and  file 
of  race-goers,  although  the  truth  is  as  old  as  racing  itself. 
An  appreciation  of  the  American  and  his  methods,  of 
course,  has  much  to  do  with  this  enlightenment.  Of  the 
thousands  of  lads  that  are  employed  in  riding  horses  in 
their  exercise  gallops,  the  proportion  that  is  of  any  use  for 
race-riding  is  infinitesimally  small,  and  of  these  another 
small  proportion  again  will  not  be  able  to  do  much  more 
than  sit  on  from  end  to  end  of  a  race  and  not  absolutely 
prevent  a  horse  from  winning  through  sheer  incapacity. 
Even  the  good  jockeys  are  to  be  divided  into  those  who 
ride  races  merely  and  those  who  take  deeper  interest  in 
the  fortunes  of  stables,  and  are  looked  up  to  by  trainers 
as  capable  advisers.  I  am  far  from  suggesting  that  a 
jockey  should  be  called  upon  to  assist  to  this  extent,  and 
it  should  be  sufficient  that  he  ride  his  races  to  order  and 
to  the  best  advantage.  But  the  natural  bent  of  some  men 
is  to  observe,  and  amongst  our  jockeys  are  a  few  who  note 
everything  that  goes  on  around  them,  and  are  really  capable 
of  forming  opinions  as  to  the  chances  of  certain  horses 
for  given  races.  They  are  not  many,  and  their  assistance  is 
really  valuable.  At  times  when  more  than  one  race  meeting 
is  in  progress  on  the  same  day  such  a  jockey  would  be 
occasionally  in  charge  of  the  horses  he  is  to  ride  at  one  of 
them  on  behalf  of  the  trainer.  Thus  a  good  deal  of  power 
often  falls  into  the  hands  of  jockeys.  As  they  commonly 
rise  from  a  lowly  state,  the  development  of  cupidity  must 
be  anticipated,  and,  with  money  to  be  made  with  greater 
certainty  by  foul  means  than  by  fair,  they  require  some 
Q 


226  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

watching.  It  is  not  stating  too  much  to  say  that  the 
jockey  question  is  the  most  serious  one  of  all  with  which 
Turf  legislators  have  to  deal  because  of  the  extreme  difficulty 
of  coping  with  it.  Jockeys  are  paid  to  ride  horses  to  win 
if  they  can,  and  it  does  not  say  much  for  the  code  of  honour 
governing  the  body  of  jockeys  that  so  much  ground  for 
dissatisfaction  should  exist.  It  is  the  old  story  of  putting 
power  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  grasping  people,  and 
the  fault  lies  with  those  who  give  power  to  those  who  should 
be  their  servants.  The  jockey  is  the  spoiled  child  of  the 
Turf,  and  spoiled  children  are  the  same  in  every  walk  of 
life.  Step  by  step  the  fawning  process  has  culminated  in 
a  state  of  things  that  is  not  at  all  desirable,  and  the  last 
person  to  blame  is  he  who  takes  advantage  of  a  course  that 
is  so  clearly  laid  open  to  him.  The  reason  why  jockeys 
should  be  watched  so  closely  is  that  into  their  hands  very 
fateful  issues  are  placed.  Into  the  minute  or  two  that  they 
are  in  the  saddle  are  crowded  the  months,  perhaps  years,  of 
anxiety  of  owner  and  trainer,  and  all  the  patient  skill  of  the 
last-named  can  be  cast  to  the  winds  by  a  few  seconds 
of  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  jockey.  But  the  supply 
of  men  between  7  st.  and  8  st.  possessed  of  the  needful 
skill  and  experience  is  extremely  limited,  and  people  think 
it  diplomatic  in  consequence  to  put  up  with  this,  that,  or 
the  other.  But  such  a  course  is  to  be  deprecated  strongly. 
Jockeys  must  ride  to  live,  and  absence  of  engagements  will 
quickly  bring  the  most  independent  to  his  senses. 

For  the  capable  jockey  there  is,  however,  no  lack  of 
engagements  at  the  present  time,  and  the  earnings  of  such 
should  satisfy  the  most  exacting.  Handsome  retainers  are 
pressed  upon  them,  though  the  ,£5,000  which  J.  Sloan 
received  from  Lord  William  Beresford  for  the  1899  season 
was  something  very  exceptional.  But  the  jockeys  in  the 
front  rank  reckon  their  incomes  by  thousands,  and  it  is  no 
rare  thing  for  a  mere  boy,  who  in  any  other  walk  of  life 
would  fill  the  humblest  position,  to  receive  a  salary  of 
£1,000  for  a  season's  riding  abroad.  Some  of  our  jockeys 
have  done  so  well  that  they  have  been  able  to  emulate  the 
most  successful  of  trainers  in  the  magnificence  of  their 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  227 

establishments ;  and  it  is  quite  the  regulation  thing  for 
those  with  a  taste  for  hunting  to  spend  the  winter  in  the 
shires  or  other  favourable  district.  That  a  jockey  can  attain 
to  these  things  by  his  ability  alone,  without  deviating  by  a 
hair's  breadth  from  the  path  of  probity,  we  happily  have 
proof;  therefore  it  is  a  pity  that  cause  should  exist  for  the 
suspicion  that  other  courses  are  at  times  adopted. 

Nearly  one-third  of  the  horses  that  run  each  year  in 
England  are  trained  at  Newmarket,  and  Newmarket  just 
holds  its  own  with  the  country  training  quarters  in  the 
matter  of  stake  money  won.  The  place,  at  the  present 
moment,  is  not  quite  so  popular  with  owners  as  it  was  a  few 
years  ago.  By  some  it  is  reasonably  urged  that  there  are 
too  many  horses  at  Newmarket,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  fever 
among  them  is  more  common  there  than  it  is  at  other 
training  quarters  ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  no  training 
ground  in  the  kingdom  is  as  good  as  the  Limekilns,  which 
affords  good  going  at  every  season  of  the  year,  and  is  only 
impossible  when  frost-bound  or  covered  with  snow.  New- 
market as  a  training  centre  varies  in  its  successes  just  as 
much  as  other  training  grounds  do ;  it  has  its  good  and 
its  bad  years.  Sometimes  Newmarket-trained  horses  carry 
everything  before  them,  as  in  1898,  when  the  winners  of  the 
Two  Thousand  Guineas,  One  Thousand  Guineas,  Derby,  and 
Oaks  were  trained  there.  To  Newmarket  also  went  the 
three  £10,000  stakes  of  that  year  by  the  aid  of  Goletta, 
Velasquez,  and  Cyllene,  and  at  Ascot  such  races  as  the  Gold 
Vase,  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes,  Royal  Hunt  Cup,  Rous 
Memorial  Stakes,  and  Alexandra  Plate,  to  say  nothing 
of  minor  events.  In  handicaps  Newmarket- trained  horses 
were  successful  in  the  Great  Metropolitan,  City  and  Suburban, 
Stewards'  Cup,  Goodwood  Plate,  Brighton  Stakes  and  Cup, 
Lewes  Handicap,  Great  Ebor  Handicap,  Great  Yorkshire 
Handicap,  Portland  Plate,  Newmarket  October  Handicap, 
Caesarewitch,  Cambridgeshire,  Liverpool  Spring  and  Autumn 
Cups,  and  Manchester  November  Handicaps.  In  the  last 
twenty  years  Newmarket  horses  have  won  the  Derby 
fourteen  times,  the  Oaks  seventeen  times,  the  Two  Thousand 
Guineas  fifteen  times,  the  One  Thousand  Guineas  seventeen 


228  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

times,  and  the  St.  Leger  fifteen  times.  That  as  a  record 
speaks  eloquently  in  favour  of  Newmarket,  but  at  the  same 
time  it  is  only  right  to  mention  that  a  majority  of  the  most 
successful  private  breeders  send  their  horses  to  Newmarket  to 
be  trained,  whilst,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  country 
stables  are  dependent  on  groups  of  small  owners.  Newmarket 
is  the  fashionable  centre,  and  many  an  aristocratic  owner 
trains  there  who  might  be  expected  to  entrust  his  horses  to 
a  trainer  in  his  own  district.  With  the  richest  men  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  concentrating  at  one  spot,  that  spot 
may  be  expected  to  yield  the  best  results.  With  most  of  the 
racing  wealth  of  the  country  represented  at  Newmarket  by 
some  horses,  where,  if  not  there,  should  we  look  for  the  good 
ones?  Besides  the  possession  of  a  variety  of  very  fine 
training  grounds,  other  advantages  which  the  place  offers 
present  very  strong  reasons  why  Newmarket  is  likely  to  hold 
its  own  in  the  future.  Then  eight  race  meetings  are  held 
there  during  the  year ;  and  an  owner  can  thus  combine  the 
two  pleasures  of  seeing  his  horses  at  work  and  attendance  at 
a  pleasant  first-rate  meeting.  He  can  see  or  hear  something 
of  the  horses  of  his  friends ;  he  can  very  often  arrange  his 
trials  for  a  race  week ;  and  if,  as  a  regular  attendant  at  the 
meetings,  he  has  a  house  in  or  near  the  town,  as  is  so 
customarily  the  case,  he  can  see  far  more  of  his  horses  than 
he  would  if  they  were  trained  elsewhere  in  the  country  ;  and 
some  owners  practically  reside  there  all  the  year  round. 
The  doyen  of  Newmarket — indeed,  of  all  English  trainers — 
was  Mr.  Matthew  Dawson,  who  died  at  the  end  of  1898. 
If  I  may  say  so  without  invidiousness,  I  consider  the  mantle 
of  Matthew  Dawson  to  have  fallen  upon  Richard  Marsh, 
of  Egerton  House,  who  trains  for  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire,  Lord  Wolverton,  and  others.  Marsh 
has  been  gradually  coming  to  the  front  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  and  though  still  a  youngish  man,  he  is  quite  at  the  top 
of  the  tree,  and  won  three  Derbys  in  five  years.  His  estab- 
lishment at  Egerton  House,  just  beyond  the  July  Course  on 
the  Cambridge  Road,  is  quite  a  sumptuous  place — perfect  in 
its  way — where,  one  is  pleased  to  know,  the  "boys"  are 
looked  after  as  well  as  the  horses,  and  where  everything 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  229 

is  thoroughly  up  to  date.  I  often  wonder  what  one  of  the 
old  Yorkshire  trainers  of  the  early  part  of  the  century  would 
say  were  he  to  see  Egerton  House.  Marsh  belongs  to  the 
most  thorough  class  of  professional  trainers — men  who  have 
been  brought  up  to,  or  have  been  apprenticed  early  in  life  to, 
racing,  and  many  of  whom  have  gone  through  the  rough 
routine  of  stable  work,  followed  by  a  course  of  jockeyship, 
and  who  have  eventually  settled  down  as  trainers.  Many 
of  the  present-day  trainers  are  trainer-bred.  To  the  general 
public,  as  apart  from  the  racing  public,  Marsh  is  best  known 
as  trainer  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  for  His  Royal 
Highness  he  has  trained  (amongst  others)  Forizel  II.,  Thais, 
Persimmon,  and  Diamond  Jubilee.  With  Forizel  II.  Marsh 
won  the  Manchester  Cup,  the  Gold  Vase  at  Ascot,  the 
Goodwood  Cup,  and  other  races,  with  Thais  the  One 
Thousand  Guineas,  with  Persimmon  the  Derby,  St.  Leger, 
Ascot  Cup,  Eclipse  Stakes,  and  Jockey  Club  Stakes,  and 
with  Diamond  Jubilee  the  Two  Thousand,  Derby,  St.  Leger, 
Eclipse  Stakes,  and  Newmarket  Stakes,  all  within  the  space 
of  six  years.  This  is  truly  a  wonderful  record.  The  Daw- 
sons,  the  Pecks,  the  I'Ansons,  Sherwoods,  Cannons,  Jennings, 
and  Days  may  be  quoted  ;  but  several  others  have  climbed 
the  ladder  from  the  bottom,  and  good  men  have  sprung  from 
either  class.  There  is  a  third  class,  though  a  small  one, 
whose  success  makes  it  heard  of,  which  springs  neither  from 
the  stable  nor  from  the  family  of  trainers.  This  class  may 
be  termed  trainers  by  intuition,  and  a  notable  member  of  it, 
who  won  more  races  in  1898  than  any  other  trainer,  was  not 
long  since  a  farmer. 

Of  the  older  school  of  Newmarket  trainers — but  subse- 
quent to  the  trainer-groom  period  —  John  Dawson,  of 
Warren  House,  and  James  Ryan,  of  Green  Lodge  (Tom 
Jennings  having  died  in  December,  1900),  may  be  men- 
tioned as  first-rate  exponents  of  the  art,  who  have  scored 
many  successes  in  the  past ;  and  such  as  James  Waugh, 
Alfred  Hayhoe,  W.  Jarvis,  T.  Leader  may  be  quoted  as 
men  of  standing,  who  have  held  their  own  for  at  least  a 
couple  of  decades.  All  mentioned  are  Newmarket  men. 
Not  so  ripe  in  years  is  George  Dawson,  who,  as  the  trainer 


230  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

of  Ayrshire,  Donovan,  Memoir,  Amiable,  Mrs.  Butterwick, 
etc.,  and  whose  stable  won  £250,000  in  stake  money  in  the 
space  of  twelve  years,  stands  out  as  one  who  has  achieved 
a  most  remarkable  series  of  successes  within  a  few  short 
years.  George  Dawson,  whose  horses  were  always  easy  to 
tell  in  a  paddock,  so  pronounced  was  their  polish,  has  lately 
vacated  Heath  House  (which  was  secured  by  the  Anglo- 
American  confederacy  over  which  the  late  Lord  William 
Beresford  presided,  and  for  whom  the  American  Huggins 
acted  as  trainer),  and  appears  to  have  given  up  training. 
Young  Newmarket  trainers  who  have  been  much  to  the 
front  of  late  may  be  mentioned  in  Robert  Sherwood,  John 
Watson,  and  Blackwell.  The  first-named,  who  succeeded  his 
father,  the  rider  of  Wild  Dayrell  in  the  Derby  of  1855,  and 
latterly  a  most  successful  trainer,  has  won  many  races  in 
recent  years,  and  so  too  have  Watson  and  Blackwell. 
Watson  is  a  son  of  the  late  James  Watson,  of  Belle  Isle, 
Richmond  (in  Yorkshire).  He  trains  almost  exclusively  for 
Mr.  Leopold  de  Rothschild,  and  can  boast  of  having  won 
the  Brocklesby  Stakes  at  Lincoln  four  years  in  succession. 
Blackwell  made  a  mark  with  the  ex-selling  plater  Chaleu- 
reux,  winner  of  the  Caesarewitch  and  Manchester  November 
Handicap  in  1898,  and  in  1900  he  did  very  well.  Other 
most  capable  men  are  Charles  Archer,  brother  of  the  late 
famous  jockey ;  Joseph  Cannon,  younger  brother  of  Tom 
Cannon,  of  Danebury ;  Thomas  Jennings,  jun. ;  John 
Dawson,  jun. ;  Joseph  Enoch,  as  a  general  rule  good  to 
follow  at  Redcar  and  Stockton ;  C.  W.  Golding,  who  since 
M.  Lebaudy's  retirement  trains  exclusively  for  Sir  E. 
Cassel ;  Michael  Gurry ;  Percy  Peck,  who  trains  for  Lord 
Durham  alone;  S.  Pickering;  A.  B.  Sadler;  and  Fred 
Webb,  the  ex-jockey.  In  addition  there  are  two  of  James 
Waugh' s  sons — C.  Waugh  and  W.  Waugh.  George  Chaloner 
has  recently  acquired  a  stable  full  of  horses ;  and  Richard 
Chaloner,  who  has  been  a  cross-country  jockey,  has  charge  of 
a  small  string  at  headquarters.  There  are  also  at  the  moment 
two  Days  at  Newmarket — F.  W.  Day,  of  Australia,  who 
won  the  Oaks  and  Cambridgeshire  in  1898,  with  Airs  and 
Graces  and  Georgic,  and  Joseph  Day.  A.  Cort  is  private 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  231 

trainer  to  Sir  Maurice  Fitzgerald  ;  Felix  Leach  has  a  good 
team  in  charge  owned  by  Mr.  H.  J.  King ;  and  G.  Platt 
has  been  appointed  trainer  to  Prince  Soltykoff  in  place  of 
Gibbons. 

All  the  above-mentioned  men  form  the  native  army  of 
Newmarket  trainers,  but  during  the  last  two  or  three  seasons 
the  place  has  known  of  vigorous  opposition  on  the  part  of 
two  or  three  Americans,  who  have  achieved  an  extraordinary 
measure  of  success.  Mention  must  first  be  made  of  Huggins, 
who  in  1898  and  1899  trained  for  Lord  William  Beresford 
and  Mr.  Lorillard  jointly,  and  in  1900  for  Lord  William 
Beresford  alone.  During  the  three  years  Huggins'  charges 
have  won  162  races,  worth  over  ,£87,000,  and  as  regards  the 
number  of  races  won  he  headed  the  poll  in  1899,  and  was 
third  in  1900,  while  in  each  of  these  years  he  was  second  in 
order  of  value  of  races  won.  With  few  exceptions  the  horses 
which  Huggins  trained  in  1898  and  1899  were  imported 
from  America.  They  were  of  all  ages,  and  though  there 
was  no  gem  of  the  first  water  among  them,  such  as  Caiman, 
Democrat,  Jolly  Tar,  Sibola  (a  classic  winner),  Berzak,  and 
Lutetia  may  be  cited  as  very  useful  horses.  In  his  second 
year  in  this  country  Huggins  did  well  with  such  English- 
bred  ones  as  Knight  of  the  Thistle  and  Blacksmith,  and  in 
1900  his  two-year-olds  were  all  English-bred,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  season  his  stable  contained  the  Derby  favourite  (for 
1901)  in  Volodyovski,  a  colt  bred  by  Lady  Meux,  at 
Theobalds  in  Herts,  but  leased  to  Lord  William  Beresford. 

Wishard's  English  career  has  so  far  been  a  most  remark- 
able one.  He  was  in  this  country  for  a  short  time  some 
five  or  six  seasons  ago,  but  only  met  with  a  moderate 
measure  of  success  with  the  American  horses  he  had 
brought  with  him.  He  sold  them  all  before  leaving,  and 
for  some  years  did  not  return.  In  1899,  however,  he 
reappeared,  and  in  partnership  with  W.  Duke  (also  an 
American)  trained  fourteen  winners  of  insignificant  races. 
Towards  the  end  of  that  season  the  partners  were  much 
talked  about  as  very  capable  men,  and  in  1900  they  quickly 
made  their  mark.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  in  this  year 
Wishard  and  Duke  trained  independently  of  each  other, 


232  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

and  at  the  end  of  the  season  Wishard  stood  first  in  the 
list  of  winning  trainers  (as   regards  the   number   of  races 
won),  with  a  total  of  fifty-four  successes  to  his  credit.     Duke 
too  had  trained  the  winners  of  thirty-one   races,  and   the 
most  remarkable  thing  in  connection  with  both  trainers  is 
that  they  bought,  generally  for  very  small  sums,  English- 
bred  platers  which  appeared  to  have  lost  their  form,  and 
converted    them   into   handicap   winners.      Wishard's    most 
notable   triumph   was   with    Royal    Flush,  which   horse  he 
purchased  for  £400  at  the  Newmarket  December  sales  in 
1899.     I  should  mention  by  the  way  that  Royal  Flush  was 
something  more  than  a  plater,  and  in  fact  he  had  won  many 
races  for  Mr.  W.  F.  Lee  (now  a  handicapper),  including  the 
Royal   Stakes  at  Epsom.     However,  the  horse  was  rather 
lame  when  brought  into  the  ring,  and  the  upshot  was  that 
Wishard   secured  him  much  below  his  real  value.     During 
the  early  spring  he  ran  three  times  without  distinguishing 
himself,  but  in  the  Great  Jubilee  Handicap  he  showed  signs 
of  revived  form  by  finishing  third  to   Sirenia   and   Merry 
Methodist.     Five  weeks  later  he  won  the  Royal  Hunt  Cup 
at   Ascot,   and   he   followed   up   that   form   by  taking   the 
Stewards'  Cup  at  Goodwood  under  7  st.  i  jibs.,  the  Sussex 
Handicap  at  Brighton  under  9  st.  7  Ibs.,  and  the  Cleveland 
Handicap    at    Doncaster    with    9  st.   6  Ibs.   in   the   saddle. 
During  the  same  period  he  was  twice  beaten  when  carrying 
heavy    weights ;     nevertheless    his    improved    form    was    a 
constant  topic  of  conversation  during  the  summer  months 
of  1900,  and  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  horse,  in 
Wishard's  hands,  was  more  than  a  stone  better  than  he  had 
ever  been  when  prepared  by  an  English  trainer.     With  the 
selling  plater  Sir  Hercules,  Wishard  was  also  very  successful, 
and  Duke  did  wonders  with  Flying  Greek,  Belamphion,  the 
American   Inishfree,  and  others.     It  should  be  added  that 
with  one  or  two  exceptions  the  inmates  of  both  stables — 
during  1900 — were  English  horses,  and  the  only  thoroughbred 
of  really  high  class  in  either  establishment  was  the  American 
three -year -old    King's    Courier,   who   beat   La    Roche  and 
Merry  Gal  in  the  Doncaster  Cup. 

How  to  account  for  these  successes  which  Wishard  and 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          233 

Duke  achieved  was  a  puzzle  which  agitated  the  Turf  world 
during  the  whole  of  the  1900  season.  All  sorts  of  stories 
were  in  circulation,  one  to  the  effect  that  electrical  appliances 
were  used  by  the  jockeys,  another  that  the  horses  were  given 
a  hypodermic  injection  before  they  ran,  and  a  third  that  a 
dose  of  some  invigorating  stuff  was  administered  internally 
some  time  before  the  race.  As  regards  the  electric  appliances 
we  may  at  once  dismiss  the  idea,  which  was  never  seriously 
entertained  by  any  race-goer  of  ordinary  common  sense. 
About  the  injections,  or  "  doping,"  as  it  is  called  in  America, 
the  evidence  is  not  so  clear.  It  is  a  fact  that  injections  have 
been  given  to  horses  before  they  ran  by  English  veterinary 
surgeons,  but  the  cases  I  really  know  of  took  place  some 
years  ago,  and  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  American 
trainers  in  this  country.  That  Wishard  and  Duke  adopted 
the  hypodermic  system  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  to 
show,  at  least  as  far  as  I  have  heard,  and  I  am  given  to 
understand  that  both  trainers  deny  the  accusation.  As 
regards  stimulants  given  internally  before  the  race,  I  need 
hardly  write  that  the  custom  is  as  old  as  the  hills,  and  that 
for  generations  whisky  and  port  wine  have  been  given 
without  stint  to  horses  of  roguish  proclivities.  If,  instead 
of  wine  or  spirits,  the  American  trainers  have  administered 
other  stimulants  which  have  a  better  effect,  I  need  only  say 
that  this  shows  their  cleverness,  but  is  hardly  an  offence. 
"  Doping "  has  been  no  doubt  very  common  in  America, 
because  the  authorities  in  that  country  have  found  it 
necessary  to  make  it  illegal,  but  there  never  was  any  law 
against  dosing  a  horse  before  he  runs,  and  though  the 
practice  is  not  one  which  I  admire,  I  must  admit  that 
probably  it  does  little  or  no  harm.  In  all  likelihood  the 
truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the  American  trainers  allow 
nature  to  have  more  play  than  do  their  ^English  brethren. 
Rule  of  thumb  is  rigidly  enforced  in  some  stables,  but  the 
American  trainer  gives  his  horse  any  amount  of  liberty, 
keeps  him  much  more  lightly  clothed,  and  studies  the 
peculiarities  of  each  of  his  charges.  It  has  probably  been 
noticed  that  all  the  American  trainers  (including  Huggins, 
Wishard,  and  Duke)  have  much  greater  success  during  the 


234  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

warm  months  than  when  the  weather  is  cold  or  wet.  In 
the  spring  of  the  year  very  few  races  are  won  by  the 
American-trained  nags,  but  as  soon  as  the  sun  begins  to 
have  considerable  power  the  horses  all  seem  to  run  into 
form,  and  I  take  it  that,  because  they  are  allowed  more 
fresh  air  than  English-trained  horses,  and  have  the  sun  on 
their  backs  for  hours  every  day,  their  general  health  improves 
to  an  extent  which  is  almost  unknown  in  English  stables. 
When  one  sees  a  horse  in  the  paddock  with  a  coat  like 
burnished  satin,  it  is  a  certainty  that  a  hot  stable,  constant 
dressing,  heavy  clothing,  and  perhaps  a  little  linseed  have 
brought  about  the  result.  The  sun  and  open  air  have  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  condition  of  the  horse's  coat,  and  yet 
during  the  summer  of  1900  we  constantly  saw  horses  trained 
on  the  American  system  walking  about  a  paddock  with  no 
clothing  and  a  rather  dull  coat,  and  such  horses  were  more 
than  holding  their  own.  At  the  Kempton  May  Meeting  of 
that  year  I  saw  a  horse  rolling  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
paddock,  and  I  went  to  see  what  it  was.  The  horse  had  no 
clothing,  and  the  boy  in  charge  was  holding  him  with  a  long 
rein.  When  the  horse  got  up  I  found  it  was  Egmont, 
and  an  hour  later  he  won  the  Hanworth  Park  Plate  in  a 
canter.  He  was  dull  in  his  coat,  and  had  absolutely  none 
of  that  bloom  one  is  accustomed  to  look  for,  but  he  was  in 
great  form  that  day. 

During  the  last  few  years  the  gentleman  trainer  of  flat- 
racers  has  come  into  evidence,  the  most  prominent  of  whom 
is  Mr.  George  Lambton,  a  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Durham, 
and  for  many  seasons  a  brilliant  jockey,  both  over  a  country 
and  on  the  flat.  When  Mr.  Lambton  gave  up  riding  he 
turned  to  training,  and  for  the  past  four  seasons  he  has 
had  charge  of  the  horses  of,  amongst  others,  Lord  Derby, 
Lord  Stanley,  and  Lord  Farquhar.  With  his  professional 
rivals  Mr.  Lambton  has  fairly  held  his  own,  as  is  witnessed 
by  a  record  of  sixty-three  races,  worth  £24,489,  achieved  by 
the  stable  in  1896.  At  Newmarket  Mr.  Lambton  has  a 
rival  in  Captain  C.  Beatty,  another  experienced  amateur 
race-rider,  who  took  over  the  string  which  were  trained  by 
the  late  James  Jewitt  at  Bedford  Cottage  at  his  death. 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  235 

Jewitt,  whose  name  in  days  to  come  will  be  chiefly  asso- 
ciated with  that  grand  horse  Isinglass,  had  a  successful 
career  of  some  twenty  years,  but  he  fell  into  wretched 
health,  and  could  no  longer  attend  to  his  business.  The 
stable  has  been  a  powerful  one  since  Captain  Machell  went 
to  Newmarket  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  and  if  Captain 
Beatty  is  to  maintain  the  high  standard  which  Bedford 
Cottage  has  so  long  enjoyed,  he  has  no  light  task  before 
him. 

Of  country  training  quarters  Kingsclere  is  without  doubt 
the  most  famous  of  the  present  day,  and  though  Kingsclere 
means  John  Porter's  establishment,  there  being  no  other 
training  establishment  in  the  place,  it  is  nevertheless  the 
one  great  rival  of  Newmarket  as  regards  the  classic  races, 
though  Derby  winners  in  the  last  ten  years  have  been 
trained  at  Beckhampton,  in  Wiltshire,  and  at  Stanton,  in 
Shropshire.  The  history  of  Kingsclere  has  been  very  fully 
set  forth  in  John  Porter's  own  book,  and  on  that  book  I 
have  no  wish  to  encroach.  Porter  has  been  at  the  head  of 
his  profession  for  many  years.  His  is  a  stable  which  flies  at 
the  highest  game,  and  classic  and  good  weight-for-age  horses 
are  in  most  years  to  be  found  in  it.  Handicaps  are  not 
greatly  affected  by  the  Kingsclere  establishment,  but  in 
recent  years  a  Caesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire  have  been 
won,  and  a  fair  share  of  minor  events.  Selling  plates  are 
avoided,  and  if  a  Kingsclere  horse  is  entered  for  one  it  may 
be  taken  as  absolutely  certain  that  the  intention  is  to  have 
it  sold  out  of  the  stable.  No  attempt  will  be  made  to 
buy  it  in.  This  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  policy  of  Kings- 
clere, where  no  horse  is  kept  if  he  is  not  up  to  the  stable 
average  of  merit.  Under  such  conditions  it  now  and  then 
happens  that  a  plater  leaves  the  stable  below  its  value,  a 
striking  instance  of  this  being  afforded  by  Strike-a-Light 
in  1898.  This  filly  won  a  selling  race  at  Newmarket  in 
July,  was  sold  for  770  guineas,  and  before  the  close  of  the 
season  she  had  credited  her  new  owner  with  a  brace  of 
nurseries  and  a  weight-for-age  race  in  which  she  beat  good 
second-class  three-year-olds,  the  total  of  her  winnings  in 
stake  money  falling  little  short  of  £1,000. 


236  THE   ENGLISH    TURF 

John  Porter  began  training  for  the  late  Sir  Joseph  Hawley 
in  1863,  and  up  to  the  end  of  last  year  (1900)  he  had  won 
for  his  various  patrons  a  total  sum  of  just  about  .£600,000. 
As  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  record  was  961  races  of 
the  value  of  £600,802.  This  is  an  enormous  sum  for  one 
establishment  to  win,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all 
Porter's  patrons  are  breeders,  and  that  the  stable  each  year 
has  been  recruited  with  a  string  of  yearlings  which  have 
been  bred  with  infinite  pains  by  such  professors  of  the  art 
as  the  late  Duke  of  Westminster,  Lord  Alington,  and  Sir 
Frederick  Johnstone,  and  which  have  never  been  made  up 
for  sale.  The  late  Duke  of  Westminster,  who  was  Porter's 
chief  employer,  was  the  most  successful  breeder  of  the  last 
two  decades,  and  it  was  very  seldom  that  the  Eaton  year- 
lings arrived  at  Kingsclere  without  there  being  one  or  two 
gems  amongst  them.  From  Ormonde  to  Flying  Fox  is  not 
a  far  cry  so  far  as  years  are  concerned,  but  during  that 
period  an  endless  succession  of  Eaton-bred  winners  was 
forthcoming.  The  Eaton  stud  is  being  maintained  by  the 
young  Duke  of  Westminster,  though  on  a  somewhat  smaller 
scale.  It  will  in  all  probability  hold  its  own  in  years  to 
come.  Recently  the  Duke  of  Portland  and  Lord  Crewe 
have  joined  the  stable,  and  now  Porter  has  in  charge  some 
of  the  produce  of  the  Australian  sire  Carbine,  who  has  been 
standing  at  Welbeck  for  the  last  three  seasons.  What  these 
young  Carbines  will  do  has  yet  to  be  proved,  and  as  two- 
year-olds  they  failed  to  distinguish  themselves,  but  in  Porter's 
hands  they  will  be  allowed  time  to  mature,  for  the  master 
of  Kingsclere  is  the  most  patient  of  trainers,  and  distinctly 
averse  to  hurrying  young  stock  before  their  frames  are  set, 
and  while  they  are  still  unfurnished. 

Kingsclere  is  situated  in  Hampshire,  some  sixty  miles 
from  town,  and  the  training  gallops  are  all  on  down  land. 
In  winter,  if  there  is  much  rain,  the  ground  becomes  very 
holding  and  spongy ;  but  in  the  summer,  and  especially  in 
times  of  drought,  the  going  is  superlatively  good.  In  the 
same  neighbourhood,  that  is  to  say  within  a  distance  of,  say, 
twenty  miles,  there  are  many  other  training  centres,  such 
as  Danebury,  Lambourn,  Chilton,  Ogbourne,  and  Ilsley, 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  237 

advantage  being  taken  of  the  stretches  of  beautiful  down 
land,  whose  turf  affords  such  splendid  going  all  the  year 
round.  Danebury,  so  long  the  home  of  the  Cannon  family, 
and,  before  them,  of  the  Days,  has  lately  been  vacated 
by  Tom  Cannon  and  his  sons,  and  taken  over  by  Mr. 
W.  H.  Moore,  the  trainer  of  Why  Not,  The  Soarer,  and 
Manifesto — all  Grand  National  winners  of  recent  date. 
Danebury  was  in  its  glory  some  forty  years  ago,  and  if  it 
has  not  been  so  prolific  of  winners  during  more  recent  times, 
it  has  nevertheless  turned  out  a  large  number  of  fair  per- 
formers, to  say  nothing  of  such  crack  jockeys  as  John  Watts, 
Mornington  and  Kempton  Cannon,  W.  T.  Robinson  (now 
the  Foxhill  trainer),  and  others.  As  a  teacher  of  jockeyship 
Tom  Cannon  has  been  facile  princeps  in  our  time,  but  of  late 
the  training  has  been  entirely  entrusted  to  Tom  Cannon, 
jun.,  who  now  trains  at  Chattis  Hill,  some  four  or  five  miles 
from  Danebury,  and  quite  close  to  Garlogs,  which  is  the 
property  and  new  home  of  the  elder  Cannon. 

Also  in  Hampshire  is  the  Grateley  stable,  presided  over 
by  Captain  Bewicke,  with  J.  Powney  as  professional  trainer. 
Captain  Bewicke's  is  only  a  moderate-sized  stable,  but  it 
plays  a  strong  hand,  and  in  1899  won  the  Lincolnshire 
Handicap  with  the  Irish-bred  General  Peace,  a  son  of 
Galopin  and  Moira,  who  is  quite  one  of  the  best  handicap 
milers  of  the  day.  When  the  Grateley  stable  brings  off  a 
coup — and  it  generally  brings  off  a  good  many  in  the  course 
of  the  year — the  ring  infallibly  suffers ;  and  a  similar  remark 
may  be  made  about  Fallon's  Netheravon  establishment.  A 
"  Grateley  good  thing "  is  eagerly  looked  for  by  the  general 
body  of  backers,  but  the  stable  knows  how  to  keep  its  own 
secrets,  and  a  fairly  good  price  is  generally  secured. 

In  Berkshire  and  Wiltshire,  more  especially  the  latter 
county,  there  are  more  training  establishments  than  there 
were  some  years  ago.  To  give  complete  details  of  all  these 
stables  would  fill  a  volume,  and  I  must  be  content  with 
touching  lightly  upon  their  features.  Taking  Berkshire  first, 
F.  W.  Phillips  trains  on  the  downs  near  Chilton,  but  the 
establishment  is  what  is  known  as  a  small  stable,  and 
only  minor  events  are  as  a  general  rule  attempted.  At 


238  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Ilsley  (Compton)  W.  G.  Stevens — a  brother  of  the  late 
T.  Stevens — presides  over  a  very  large  establishment,  and 
wins  a  great  number  of  races.  In  1898  W.  Stevens  sent 
out  twenty-three  winners  of  thirty-one  races,  and  in  the 
previous  year  he  won  the  Cambridgeshire  for  Sir  William 
Ingram  with  Comfrey,  a  good-looking  son  of  Despair,  whose 
stock  have  in  late  years  done  great  things  for  this  stable. 
Taking  one  year  with  another,  few  trainers  meet  with  more 
uniform  success  than  Stevens,  who  is  a  thorough  master  of  his 
work,  and  good  to  follow  when  he  fancies  his  horses.  Stevens 
very  rarely  goes  North,  but  in  the  smaller  handicaps  and 
in  selling  races  at  the  Southern  meetings  he  is  always 
dangerous.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Ilsley  J.  Lowe, 
J.  Dover,  McKie,  East,  and  H.  Lukie  are  also  at  present 
located,  but  the  Compton  establishment  is  the  great  stable 
of  the  district,  and  some  two-thirds  of  the  races  which  are 
won  by  Ilsley-trained  horses  are  credited  to  William  Stevens. 
At  Lambourn,  also  in  Berkshire,  no  fewer  than  seven 
trainers  are  at  present  established,  and  the  largest  establish- 
ment is  that  of  J.  F.  Peace,  who  in  1898  sent  out  thirty 
winners  of  forty-four  races,  and  who  is  especially  dangerous 
at  the  Lancashire  meetings,  many  of  his  patrons  hailing 
from  the  County  Palatine.  Another  Lambourn  trainer  is 
Harry  Bates,  a  son  of  Fred  Bates  of  Middleham,  and  though 
comparatively  a  new  beginner,  young  Bates  trained  fourteen 
winners  of  eighteen  races  in  1898,  and  is  likely  to  take  a 
good  place  among  country  trainers.  J.  Chandler,  who  had 
charge  of  that  beautiful  horse  Amphion,  is  another  of  the 
Lambourn  trainers,  and  Hobbs,  whose  Burnaby  won  the 
Caesarewitch,  P.  Sherrard,  J.  Rhodes,  and  T.  Worton  now 
complete  the  number.  Mr.  Worton,  who  made  a  mark  in 
the  Turf  world  through  owning  Victor  Wild,  is  quite  an 
amateur,  and  has  only  a  small  stud ;  he,  however,  wins 
races,  and  that  he  evidently  understands  the  business  is 
shown  by  others  training  with  him.  At  Lambourn  many 
good  horses  have  been  trained,  and  besides  Victor  Wild 
and  Amphion,  Surefoot  and  Bendigo  may  be  mentioned 
as  big  winners  of  not  very  remote  date.  Not  far  away 
from  Lambourn,  near  Kingston  Warren,  where  W.  Grey 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  239 

and  W.  Raisin  are  in  residence,  and  at  Wantage  there  are 
no  fewer  than  six  trainers,  viz.  Hornsby,  Robson,  C.  Morton, 
G.  Clement,  H.  Luke,  and  W.  Stanley.  Hornsby  presides 
over  a  large  and  very  successful  stable,  and  in  1898  was 
responsible  for  thirty  winners  of  forty-four  races,  while 
Robson  had  fourteen  winners  of  twenty -three  events. 
H.  Luke,  who  has  only  a  small  string,  is  the  ex-jockey  who 
won  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  on  Petrarch,  and  is  also 
the  father  of  the  light-weight  of  the  same  name ;  and 
C.  Morton  was  at  one  time  private  trainer  to  the  late  Mr. 
George  Abington  Baird,  and  has  trained  a  host  of  good 
winners  in  his  time.  He  has  just  lately  acquired  a  very 
large  stable  of  valuable  horses,  and  in  the  future  may  be 
expected  to  do  great  things  for  his  employers. 

At  Ogbourne,  in  Wiltshire,  but  quite  close  to  Lambourn, 
are  Charles  Peck  and  F.  Lynham.  The  first-named,  a  son 
of  the  late  Robert  Peck  and  a  brother  of  Percy  Peck,  who 
trains  for  Lord  Durham,  has  inherited  the  family  talent, 
and  is  quickly  making  a  name  for  himself.  In  1898  he 
trained  the  winners  of  eighteen  races,  and  amongst  them 
was  Herminius,  a  rare  staying  son  of  Lowland  Chief  and 
Herminia,  who  won  the  Ascot  Stakes  and  other  good  races, 
and  who  in  the  spring  of  1899  won  the  Manchester  Cup  in 
a  hack  canter  with  8  st.  I3lbs.  in  the  saddle.  Herminius, 
who  was  bred  by  Lord  Ellesmere,  was  bought  out  of  a  selling 
race  for  less  than  £300  by  Mr.  John  Hammond  ;  and  it  is 
a  great  feather  in  Charles  Peck's  cap  that  with  such  a  cheap 
horse  he  should  have  won  two  of  the  greatest  long-distance 
handicaps.  Lynham  has  been  training  for  many  years,  and 
curiously  enough  he  had  won  the  Chester  Cup  for  one  of  his 
patrons  with  Uncle  Mac  (late  Northallerton)  only  a  fortnight 
before  his  neighbour  secured  the  Manchester  Cup.  Nor 
was  this  Lynham's  first  taste  of  Chester  sweets  (Cheshire 
cheese  would  be  perhaps  more  appropriate,  with  a  cheese 
going  to  first,  second,  and  third  in  the  race),  as  he  had  trained 
Windsor  when  that  mare  won  for  Sir  John  Astley  in  1881. 

I  have  mentioned  Ogbourne  first  of  the  Wiltshire  training 
quarters  because  of  its  close  proximity  to  several  of  the 
Berkshire  establishments,  but  most  people  would  probably 


240  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

feel  inclined  to  name  first  Sam  Darling,  of  Beckhampton, 
near  Calne,  who  within  the  last  three  years  has  won  the 
Two  Thousand  Guineas  and  the  Derby  once  and  the 
St.  Leger  twice,  to  say  nothing  of  other  big  stakes.  Darling, 
whose  father  and  grandfather  were  trainers  before  him,  has 
done  great  things  with  horses  bred  in  Ireland,  but  imported 
to  this  country  in  their  early  days.  With  Kilcock,  by  the 
St  Leger  winner  Kilwarlin,  he  won  a  host  of  good  races 
up  to  a  mile ;  and  during  the  present  decade  no  trainer  has 
shown  us  a  more  perfect  specimen  of  the  modern  racehorse. 
Though  by  no  means  a  big  one,  and  never  able  to  travel 
beyond  a  mile,  Kilcock  has  perfect  symmetry  and  quality 
of  a  most  pronounced  description.  At  first  sight  he  looks 
light  of  bone,  especially  below  the  knee,  but  he  is  not  so 
really,  the  fact  being  that  his  bone  is  so  round  as  to  look 
smaller  than  it  really  is.  No  racehorse  of  recent  times  has 
come  in  for  more  adulation  from  a  paddock  crowd,  or  with 
greater  justice,  than  Kilcock.  But  Kilcock  in  1895  and  1896 
was  only  a  promise  of  what  Beckhampton  was  to  do  in  the 
near  future ;  and  in  1897  Darling  threw  down  the  gauntlet  in 
earnest,  and  with  another  Irish-bred  one  secured  the  triple 
crown,  to  say  nothing  of  the  valuable  Newmarket  Stakes. 
Whether  Galtee  More  was  ever  the  great  horse  his  many 
admirers  tried  to  make  him  out  is  a  point  which  will  never 
be  decided.  He  won  the  Middle  Park  Plate,  Two  Thousand 
Guineas,  Derby,  and  Newmarket  Stakes  with  the  greatest 
ease,  but  he  only  just  scrambled  home  in  front  of  three  very 
moderate  horses  in  the  St.  Leger,  and  in  the  Cambridgeshire 
six  weeks  later  he  failed  to  do  more  than  make  a  fair  show 
under  8  st.  10  Ibs.  Of  him,  however,  two  facts  can  be  fairly 
urged :  firstly,  that  he  was  a  long  way  the  best  of  his  year ; 
and,  secondly,  that  he  was  one  of  the  grandest-looking  horses 
of  modern  times.  He  had  all  the  size  and  substance  of  the 
best  of  the  Stockwell  family,  and  to  this  was  added  such 
"quality"  as  is  rarely  found  in  so  big  a  horse.  In  1898 
Darling  again  won  the  St.  Leger — this  time  with  Wildfowler, 
an  Irish-bred  son  of  Gallinule,  who  beat  the  Derby  winner 
Jeddah.  Darling  is  quite  at  the  top  of  his  profession. 

At   Burbage,   in    Wilts,    H.    Braine,   who   was   for   many 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS  241 

years  head  lad  to  Charles  Jousiffe  (the  trainer  of  Bendigo 
and  Surefoot),  has  a  fairly  large  team  under  his  charge  ; 
but  a  more  important  Wiltshire  establishment  is  that  of 
W.  T.  Robinson,  at  Foxhill,  near  Lyddington,  where  there  are 
some  of  the  finest  downs  in  the  Southern  Counties.  Robinson, 
who  for  several  years  was  first  jockey  to  Captain  Machell, 
and  who  rode  a  brace  of  St.  Leger  winners  in  Kilwarlin  and 
Seabreeze,  has  only  been  a  trainer  for  some  half-dozen  years, 
but  during  that  time  he  has  been  very  successful  in  big 
handicaps ;  and  he  probably  made  his  name  as  a  trainer 
more  quickly  than  any  of  his  competitors  have  done, 
though  in  the  matter  of  stake  money  won  he  has  not  yet 
approached  George  Dawson's  figures.  That  great  horse 
Clorane,  who  won  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap  with  the  record 
weight  of  9  st.  4  Ibs.,  was  Robinson's  first  strong  card  ;  and 
in  1895  ne  won  tne  Royal  Hunt  Cup  with  Mr.  Basset's  horse, 
and  two  months  later  the  Stewards'  Cup  at  Goodwood  with 
Wise  Virgin  for  the  same  owner.  In  the  following  year 
Clorane  took  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap,  just  referred  to,  and 
Winkfield's  Pride  the  Cambridgeshire  for  the  Foxhill  stable ; 
and  in  1897  Winkfield's  Pride  credited  the  establishment 
with  a  second  Lincolnshire  Handicap,  while  a  year  later 
Foxhill  threw  a  third  main  in  the  same  race,  when  it  won 
the  first  big  handicap  of  the  year  with  Prince  Barcaldine. 
The  victory  of  the  last-named  was  followed  by  the  Jubilee 
Stakes  success  of  Dinna  Forget,  who  also  won  the  Liverpool 
Summer  Cup  in  the  same  year ;  and  thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
during  the  four  years  from  1895  to  l%9&  inclusive  Robinson 
had  an  extraordinary  share  of  handicap  success. 

Another  Wiltshire  establishment  is  that  of  Messrs.  T.  and 
A.  Taylor,  at  Manton,  near  Marlborough,  and  at  present  some 
forty  thoroughbreds  are  located  at  the  famous  stables,  where 
the  late  Alec  Taylor  (father  of  the  present  trainers)  made  so 
big  a  mark.  Of  the  many  successes  of  Alec  Taylor  I  need 
not  write  much.  He  trained  for  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  for 
Mr.  Stirling  Crawford  and  the  Duchess  of  Montrose,  and 
for  many  other  magnates  of  a  bygone  generation.  He 
was  always  famous  for  turning  out  stayers,  and  particularly 
devoted  his  attention  to  long-distance  races.  Since  the  death 


242  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

of  the  late  master  of  Manton  his  sons  have  had  no  great 
material  to  work  on,  but  they  have  trained  an  Ascot  Cup 
winner  in  Love  Wisely,  who  also  beat  Velasquez  for  the 
;£  10,000  Jockey  Club  Stakes.  At  Netheravon  (also  in 
Wilts)  Fallon  presides  over  a  long  string,  and  wins  a  fair 
share  of  races ;  and  in  the  same  neighbourhood  George 
Porter — a  son  of  John  Porter,  of  Kingsclere — has  charge 
of  a  few  horses ;  while  Lewis  and  McKenna  train  in  the 
same  neighbourhood.  Near  Wroughton  William  Leader, 
E.  Craddock,  and  Clack  are  located,  but  the  two  last-named 
have  more  to  do  with  cross-country  horses  than  flat-racers, 
while  Leader  trains  horses  for  both  branches  of  the  sport, 
and  meets  with  a  fair  measure  of  success. 

Training  grounds  in  Dorsetshire  are  not  so  numerous  as 
in  Berkshire  or  Wilts,  but  there  is  plenty  of  good  down  land 
on  the  north-eastern  side  of  the  county,  and  near  Cranborne 
two  gentlemen  trainers — Sir  Charles  Nugent  and  Mr.  George 
Thursby — have  stables.  Sir  Charles  almost  entirely  confines 
his  attention  to  steeplechasing,  and  with  a  small  string  is 
wonderfully  successful.  Mr.  Thursby,  on  the  other  hand,  de- 
votes himself  to  flat-racing,  and  trains  for  his  father  only, 
riding  the  horses  himself  when  the  weights  will  allow  of  his 
doing  so.  In  1899  the  young  amateur  brought  out  only 
four  winners,  but  they  succeeded  in  winning  a  dozen  races, 
and  Mr.  Thursby  had  no  fewer  than  eleven  winning  rides,  or 
more  than  double  the  number  credited  to  any  other  amateur 
knight  of  the  pigskin.  Other  Dorsetshire  trainers  are  Walters 
and  Mr.  Gilpin,  both  of  whom  reside  near  Pimperne.  The 
former  has  not  a  large  string,  and  has  seldom  been  heard 
of  of  late.;  but  Mr.  Gilpin  was  well  to  the  fore  in  1900  with 
Clarehaven,  Eager,  Sirenia,  and  Waterhen,  winning  amongst 
other  races  the  Great  Jubilee  Handicap  with  Sirenia,  the 
Caesarewitch  with  Clarehaven,  and  the  great  match  against 
Royal  Flush  at  Hurst  Park  with  Eager. 

Training  establishments  are  scattered  over  all  the  down 
lands  of  Sussex,  and  a  majority  of  them  chiefly  devote 
their  attention  to  cross-country  nags,  most  of  the  stables 
being  within  easy  reach  of  Sandown,  Kempton,  Hurst  Park, 
Gatwick,  Lingfield,  Plumpton,  Windsor,  and  other  places 


TRAINERS  AND  JOCKEYS          243 

which  do  not  involve  overnight  sojourn  on  the  part  of  the 
horses.  At  Alfriston,  on  the  downs  where  Gatland  used  to 
train — and  where  Father  O'Flynn  was  prepared  for  the 
Grand  National— Batho  now  has  charge  of  Mr.  Hare's 
team,  and  with  such  as  Hawfinch,  Northern  Farmer,  and 
Le  Blizon  the  stable  has  fairly  well  held  its  own.  Close  by, 
at  Jevington,  Charles  Wood  and  his  son  J.  Wood  have  lately 
built  new  stables.  James  Wood  has  only  just  commenced, 
but  Clay — a  near  neighbour  of  the  Woods — has  been  at 
Jevington  for  some  years. 

At  Arundel  H.  Chandler  trains  for  Mr.  Alfred  Day,  and 
about  Lewes  are  some  seven  or  eight  stables,  of  which 
Escott's  and  Prince's  are  best  known  just  now,  though 
Escott  almost  entirely  confines  himself  to  chasers.  Other 
Lewes  trainers  are  Fitton,  Riste,  Butchers,  A.  Sydney, 
Parkes,  Downes,  and  Savage,  but  none  of  them  is  much 
heard  of  in  connection  with  flat-racing,  and  at  present  four 
out  of  every  five  of  the  Lewes-trained  nags  are  either 
hurdle-racers  or  steeplechasers.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
Findon  Halsey  had  charge  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Miller's  horses 
until  July  of  1900,  when  the  stud  was  dispersed.  Since 
that  time  Halsey  has  been  a  public  trainer,  and  has  met 
with  a  large  measure  of  success.  F.  Barratt,  H.  Spencer, 
and  D.  Thirlwell  are  also  Michel  Grove  or  Findon  trainers, 
and  of  these  Barratt  is  perhaps  the  best  known.  All,  how- 
ever, are  small  stables  which  go  for  unimportant  races,  as 
are  those  of  Rustell,  Burbidge,  and  Stephen  Woodland,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Stoughton,  at  the  western  end  of  the 
county. 

No  horses  are  trained  in  Kent,  but  Surrey  can  boast  of 
Epsom,  where  even  now  a  fair  number  of  horses  are  trained, 
though  the  place  has  not  maintained  its  early  prestige.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  Epsom  was  the  greatest  Southern  rival 
of  Newmarket  as  a  training  centre ;  but  the  Downs  get  dread- 
fully hard  in  a  hot  summer,  and  with  no  artificial  irrigation 
possible,  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep  horses  at  work  in  July 
and  August,  unless  plenty  of  rain  falls.  At  present 
W.  Nightingall  (South  Hatch)  has  the  longest  string  at 
Epsom,  and  this  trainer  is  very  successful  with  platers,  and 


244  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

occasionally  wins  a  good  handicap.  Then  there  is  Tom 
Sherwood,  whose  pretty  establishment  is  situated  on  the 
Downs,  the  gate  being  just  beside  the  City  and  Suburban 
starting-post.  Sherwood  is  a  brother  of  the  late  Robert 
Sherwood,  and  uncle  of  the  present  trainer  of  that  name. 
Another  Epsom  trainer  is  Arthur  Nightingall,  the  steeple- 
chase jockey,  and  a  fourth  W.  Holt,  who  wins  a  good  many 
races  in  the  course  of  the  year,  and  who  has  a  smart  and 
well-arranged  yard  hard  by  the  entrance  to  The  Durdans. 
Another  Epsom  trainer  is  C.  Whitfield,  whose  business  lies 
among  the  platers ;  and  another  is  Lomas,  who  has  charge 
of  Mr.  C.  C.  Dormer's  horses. 

Though  many  steeplechase  nags  are  trained  in  the  Mid- 
lands, flat-racing  stables  are  few  and  far  between.  At  Exton 
Park,  in  Rutlandshire,  Cole  has  charge  of  the  horses  owned 
by  Lord  Penrhyn  and  Mr.  E.  C.  Clayton,  and  such  as  Noble 
Chieftain  and  King's  Messenger  may  be  quoted  as  successful 
Exton  horses  of  recent  times.  At  Bourton-on-the-Hill,  in 
Gloucestershire,  ex-jockey  White  has  the  establishment 
which  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  late  Edwin 
Weever,  and  in  Damocles  White  has  possession  of  a 
smart  colt.  Then,  again,  there  are  several  small  stables  at 
Hednesford,  near  Rugeley,  in  Staffordshire,  where  the  down 
lands  of  Cannock  Chase  are  available  for  training  purposes. 
Shropshire  has  one  training  stable,  that  of  T.  Wadlow,  at 
Stanton,  near  Shifnal.  From  this  place  came  the  Derby 
winner  Sir  Hugo,  and  on  the  whole  it  may  be  urged  that 
Wadlow's  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  provincial  stables. 
For  the  late  Lord  Bradford  the  Stanton  trainer  won  many 
races,  and  though  the  present  peer  has  not  figured  largely 
among  winning  owners  as  yet,  Wadlow  nevertheless  turned 
out  eleven  winners  of  twenty  races  in  1899,  the  value  of 
which  was  ^"5,000. 

On  the  north  side  of  London,  Royston,  in  Hertfordshire, 
can  boast  of  several  stables,  but  those  of  Mr.  Guy  Marsh 
and  Driscoll  are  mostly  in  the  cross-country  line  of  business, 
and  at  present  R.  G.  Sherrard,  who  used  to  train  at  New- 
market a  dozen  years  ago,  turns  out  more  winners  on  the 
flat  than  all  the  others  put  together. 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          245 

Essex  can  be  drawn  blank  as  far  as  flat-racers  are  con- 
cerned, though  there  are  plenty  of  chasers  all  over  the 
county;  but  quite  lately  a  new  training  ground  has  been 
utilised  at  Rushford,  near  Thetford,  in  Norfolk.  Here 
A.  J.  Gilbert  has  charge  of  some  twenty  thoroughbreds, 
nearly  all  of  whom  were  bred  by  and  are  owned  by  Mr. 
Musker,  and  during  the  spring  of  1900  quite  a  sequence  of 
winning  two-year-olds  was  sent  out.  I  have  not  seen  the 
Thetford  gallops,  but  am  told  that  they  are  very  good,  and 
most  certainly  no  young  stable  ever  commenced  in  better 
style.  Mr.  Musker's  present  plan  seems  to  be  to  devote 
himself  to  the  training  and  sale,  as  made  racehorses,  of 
two-year-olds.  Certainly  with  10,500  guineas  for  Toddington, 
15,000  guineas  for  Princess  Melton,  and  5,600  guineas  for 
Lord  Melton,  he  made  a  brilliant  start. 

Not  so  many  years  ago  Northern  and  Southern  racing 
was  widely  divided,  and  only  occasionally,  as  in  the  St.  Leger 
week,  were  there  trials  of  strength  between  the  two  schools. 
During  the  first  half  of  the  century  the  Northern  -  trained 
horses  and  Northern  jockeys  fairly  held  their  own  with  their 
Newmarket  brethren,  and  in  those  times  it  was  very  sel- 
dom that  the  St.  Leger  went  South.  In  fact,  the  Northern 
stables  won  nearly  as  many  Derbys  as  the  Southerners  did 
St.  Legers,  and  there  was,  of  course,  tremendous  rivalry 
between  the  two  factions.  The  advent  of  the  railways 
altered  everything,  and  now  such  places  as  York  and  Don- 
caster  attract  nearly  as  many  Southern  as  Northern  horses, 
and  it  is  only  at  the  smaller  and  less  important  North- 
country  meetings  that  the  Yorkshire  horses  have  the  field 
(practically)  to  themselves.  No  one  can  say  that  the  racing 
at  the  really  great  North-country  meetings  —  Doncaster, 
York,  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Gosforth  Park  June  Meeting, 
and  Stockton — is  one  whit  worse  than  it  used  to  be,  but 
Northern  training  has  fallen  upon  evil  days,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  nine-tenths  of  the  racing  men  who  derive  their 
incomes  from  land  or  commercial  enterprise  in  the  North 
train  their  horses  in  the  South  of  England.  I  have  made 
allusion  to  this  elsewhere,  and  now  devote  a  few  words  to 
the  Northern  stables  as  they  are  to-day. 


246  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

Perhaps  the  most  prominent  of  all  the  Northern  stables 
just  now  is  the  comparatively  new  establishment  over  which 
Elsey  presides  at  Baumber,  in  Lincolnshire,  and  from  a 
geographical  point  of  view  this  stable  is  more  in  the 
Midlands  than  in  the  North.  Elsey  only  began  a  few 
years  ago  with  a  few  platers,  but  he  gradually  increased 
his  string,  and  his  successes  have  been  very  marked  of 
late  years.  In  1898  he  turned  out  thirty-one  winners  of 
seventy-five  races,  worth  £4,988,  and  during  the  season  he 
won  fifteen  more  races  than  any  other  trainer  secured. 
The  racing  season  extends  over  thirty-six  weeks,  so  that, 
roughly  speaking,  Elsey  won  two  races  a  week  during  the 
whole  period — a  singularly  fine  average  for  anyone,  but 
really  extraordinary  when  it  is  considered  that  Elsey  only 
took  to  training  in  middle  life,  and  had  not  been  brought 
up  in  the  stables.  As  a  rule  the  Baumber  horses  run  more 
on  the  Northern  Circuit  and  in  the  Midlands  than  in  the 
South,  but  anyhow  they  are  dangerous  wherever  they  go, 
though  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  stable  seldom  goes  for  big 
stakes,  and  generally  confines  itself  to  minor  events  of 
every  description.  At  the  Northern  meetings  so  many 
successes  have  been  achieved  by  Baumber -trained  horses 
during  the  last  four  or  five  years  that  a  long  price  is  very 
seldom  obtainable,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  many  starting-price 
bookmakers  in  the  North  will  take  no  money  for  these 
horses  without  charging  a  big  commission.  In  modern 
racing  Elsey's  success  is  in  a  way  without  parallel,  for 
though  William  FAnson,  of  Malton,  won  as  many  races 
over  a  period  of  several  years  with  a  smaller  stud,  William 
FAnson  had  been  bred  up  to  racing,  and  during  his  youth 
had  been  associated  with  such  celebrities  as  Blair  Athol, 
Blink  Bonny,  Caller  Ou,  and  a  host  of  famous  horses.  Up 
to  the  present  time  no  great  victories  have  been  scored  by 
Elsey's  stable,  and  so  far  Lord  Edward  II.,  by  Enthusiast, 
has  been  the  best  horse  which  the  Baumber  stable  has 
sheltered.  The  colt  in  question  won  the  most  valuable 
two-year-old  prize  of  his  year  (the  Breeders'  Produce  Stakes 
at  Sandown  Park),  and  as  a  three-year-old  was  placed  in 
the  Lincoln  Handicap,  and  again  in  the  Jubilee  Stakes, 


TRAINERS  AND  JOCKEYS          247 

before  winning  the  Prince's  Handicap  at  the  Gatwick  Spring 
Meeting  of  1898.  He  also  ran  second  in  the  Ascot  Gold 
Cup. 

In  Yorkshire  just  now  there  are  some  half-dozen  training 
quarters  —  Malton,  Middleham,  Richmond,  Hambleton, 
Beverley,  and  Pontefract  to  wit — and  in  addition  Mr.  Vyner 
has  a  private  training  ground  on  the  Newby  Park  Estate, 
near  Ripon.  Malton  and  Middleham  take  the  highest  rank, 
but  so  much  of  Langton  Wold  (the  Malton  training  ground) 
has  been  enclosed  of  late  years  that  Middleham  is  now  the 
better  place  of  the  two  ;  and  yet  neither  of  them  holds  its 
own  with  Newmarket  or  the  best  of  the  Berkshire,  Wiltshire, 
and  Hampshire  downs.  Indeed,  at  both  Malton  and 
Middleham  one  is  inclined  to  think  more  of  the  past  than 
the  present,  and  unless  North  -  country  breeders  once  more 
have  their  horses  trained  in  their  own  neighbourhood,  I  see 
no  great  future  before  either  place.  At  present  there  are  half 
a  dozen  stables  at  Malton,  sheltering  some  one  hundred  and 
thirty  horses,  and  by  far  the  largest  establishment  is  High- 
field  House,  where  William  I'Anson  (the  son  of  the  owner 
and  trainer  of  Blair  Athol  and  Blink  Bonny)  for  many 
years  presided  over  the  destinies  of  about  fifty  thorough- 
breds. He  has  lately  decreased  his  stable  considerably. 
Highfield  House  has  been  lately  rebuilt,  and  the  training  is 
now  all  done  at  home,  I'Anson  having  ceased  for  some 
years  to  use  Langton  Wold.  Those  who  have  been  present 
at  Malton  Steeplechases  will  know  the  Highfield  private 
training  ground,  as  the  steeplechase  course  is  laid  out  in 
the  same  fields.  The  gallops  are  very  good,  and  are  varied 
in  constitution,  there  being  a  long,  straight  uphill  finish  as 
well  as  a  circular  track.  The  going  is  more  like  what  one 
finds  in  a  well-kept  modern  enclosure  than  the  usual  down- 
land  going,  and  there  is  a  wide  tan  gallop  parallel  with  the 
grass,  so  that  if  the  latter  becomes  too  hard  the  horses  can 
have  the  advantage  of  a  soft  track. 

In  Northern  racing  Highfield  House  has  played  a  bold 
part  ever  since  William  I'Anson  succeeded  his  father,  and 
scores  of  good  horses  have  been  trained  there.  The  unfor- 
tunate Beauclerc,  who  won  the  Middle  Park  Plate,  but  who 


248  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

could  not  be  trained  as  a  three-year-old,  still  holds  the  place 
of  chief  lord  of  the  harem  at  the  adjoining  Blink  Bonny  stud 
farm,  and  since  he  was  to  the  fore  Highfield  has  known  an 
endless  succession  of  big  winners.  For  Mr.  Perkins  FAnson 
won  the  Goodwood  Cup  in  two  successive  years  with  Dresden 
China  and  Madame  Du  Barry,  and  afterwards  came  Roe- 
hampton,  Chislehurst,  Breadknife,  Castor,  Jenny  Howlet — 
who  won  the  Oaks  in  1880 — Hambledon,  Newcourt,  Chitta- 
bob,  Self-Sacrifice,  The  Baker,  and  many  others  who  made 
their  mark. 

It  is  I'Anson's  opinion  that  Self-Sacrifice  was  the  best  mare 
which  the  North  country  has  known  for  many  years,  and  he 
even  now  thinks  that  she  would  have  won  the  St.  Leger  if 
she  had  been  ridden  exactly  to  orders.  Colling  was  instructed 
to  take  up  the  running  at  the  Red  House,  so  as  to  avoid  any 
chance  of  being  shut  in  at  the  Intake  Turn  ;  but  his  zeal  got 
the  better  of  his  discretion,  and  instead  of  quietly  going  to 
the  front,  he  shot  his  mare  clean  away,  and  went  on  some 
half-dozen  lengths — or  more — in  front  of  his  nearest  op- 
ponent. At  a  mile  and  a  half  he  had  well  won,  but  the 
pace  he  went  rode  the  mare  down,  and  she  had  nothing  left 
to  stall  off  the  challenge  of  Isinglass  when  the  Derby  winner 
came  up.  That  there  was  much  justification  for  this  opinion 
of  the  Malton-trained  filly  will  be  understood  when  I  state 
that  Self-Sacrifice  won  a  most  extraordinary  trial  ten  days 
before  the  St.  Leger.  She  was  tried  with  Newcourt  and 
Shancrotha,  of  whom  the  former  won  two  Northumberland 
Plates,  and  the  latter  a  brace  of  Manchester  Cups  (the 
second  a  dead-heat  with  Red  Ensign),  and  was  asked  to  give 
Newcourt  two  years  and  iSlbs.  This  she  accomplished 
cleverly,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  heard  of  a  three- 
year-old  winning  such  a  handicap  trial. 

Another  good  but  very  unlucky  horse  who  hailed  from 
Highfield  not  so  many  years  ago  was  Chittabob,  who  beat 
Donovan  as  a  two-year-old  in  the  Whitsuntide  Plate  at  Man- 
chester. This  good-looking  horse  was  always  mysteriously 
lame,  and  at  no  period  of  his  career  was  the  exact  cause  of 
his  lameness  known.  He  was  lame  as  a  yearling,  when  the 
process  of  breaking  was  gone  through,  and  ever  afterwards 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          249 

he  had  to  be  constantly  stopped  in  his  work.  Various 
opinions  were  of  course  taken,  and  while  one  veterinary 
surgeon  thought  the  lameness  was  in  the  knee,  another 
blamed  the  shoulder,  and  a  third  suggested  rheumatic  gout. 
Had  it  been  possible  to  train  Chittabob,  no  doubt  he  would 
have  been  a  great  winner.  He  was  very  speedy,  and  was 
always  going  from  the  moment  the  flag  fell,  but  being  in- 
variably short  of  work  he  was  generally  spun  out  before  the 
winning-post  was  reached.  I  remember  him  looking  all 
over  a  winner  of  the  St.  Leger  of  his  year  as  the  field  came 
to  the  distance,  but  the  horse  was  not  even  half-trained  ;  and 
the  very  fact  of  his  finishing  among  the  leaders,  and  in 
front  of  the  Oaks  winner  L'Abbesse  de  Jouarre,  shows  what 
a  great  horse  he  really  was.  That  same  night  his  attendant 
found  him  wringing-wet  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  no  doubt  the 
horse  was  in  great  pain  from  his  limb  trouble,  whatever  it 
was.  Between  the  St.  Leger  of  that  year  and  the  ten- 
thousand  -  pound  Lancashire  Plate  there  was  an  interim  of 
eleven  days,  and  for  a  week  of  that  period  Chittabob  was 
confined  to  his  box.  Then  he  became  a  little  sounder,  did 
two  half-speed  gallops,  and  was  sent  to  Manchester.  Once 
more  he  met  more  than  his  match  in  Donovan,  but  in  running 
second  the  unsound  and  half-trained  horse  did  a  wonderful 
performance,  as  he  had  behind  him  Alicante  (who  won  the 
Cambridgeshire  under  7st.  I2lbs.  a  month  later),  Seabreeze 
(winner  of  the  St.  Leger  and  Oaks  in  the  previous  year), 
Enthusiast,  and  other  good  ones ;  and  he  was  only  beaten 
in  the  last  hundred  yards,  having,  as  usual,  shown  a  bold 
front  to  the  distance. 

As  a  judge  of  horses — and  of  their  value — there  are  few 
if  any  trainers  who  can  give  I'Anson  a  pound.  In  his  time 
he  has  secured  some  of  the  most  extraordinary  bargains,  and 
notably  he  paid  only  190  guineas  for  Breadknife,  who,  after 
distinguishing  himself  greatly  both  on  the  racecourse  and 
at  the  stud,  was  sold  in  1898  to  Mr.  John  Robinson,  of  the 
Worksop  Manor  Stud,  for  £3,000,  the  horse  being  fifteen 
years  old  at  the  time.  For  Castor,  with  whom  he  won  the 
Liverpool  Cup,  he  gave  £200,  and  for  Wyneswold,  who 
won  a  score  of  second-class  races,  about  the  same  amount. 


250  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Hambledon  he  claimed  for  £200  at  Leicester,  won  the  York 
and  Doncaster  Cups  with  him,  and  refused  an  offer  of  3,000 
guineas  made  by  the  late  Duchess  of  Montrose.  For  New- 
court,  who  won  for  the  Highfield  establishment  the  North- 
umberland Plate,  the  Manchester  Cup,  and  several  other 
races,  he  gave  £225  ;  and  Roehampton,  with  whom  he  won 
the  Northamptonshire  Stakes,  he  claimed  for  £300  out  of  a 
selling  race  at  Goodwood.  For  Prince  Rudolph  he  gave 
£190,  and  with  him  won  the  Liverpool  Spring  Cup  and 
the  De  TrafTord  Handicap  of  £1,000  at  Manchester.  The 
Docker  too  he  got  for  an  old  song  from  Major  Joicey,  and 
though  individual  cases  can  be  quoted  of  ex-selling  platers 
who  have  turned  out  quite  as  well — Victor  Wild,  Chaleureux, 
and  Herminius  to  wit — it  is  our  opinion  that  no  racing  man 
of  the  present  generation  has  maintained  such  a  run  of 
lucky  deals  as  William  FAnson.  Fancy  any  one  man  winning 
the  Northumberland  Plate  (twice),  the  Manchester  Cup,  two 
Liverpool  Cups,  York  Cup,  Doncaster  Cup,  and  the  North- 
amptonshire Stakes  with  selling  platers ! 

Malton  trainers  generally  affect  the  Northern  Circuit  most, 
and  Newcastle-on-Tyne  has  always  been  one  of  FAnson's 
happiest  hunting  grounds.  At  the  Summer  Meeting  (Gos- 
forth  Park)  of  1888  he  won  nine  of  the  twenty  races  decided 
on  the  three  days,  including  all  the  principal  stakes.  On 
Tuesday  he  took  the  Stewards'  Handicap  with  Derwent- 
water,  the  Ascot  Plate  with  Pickpocket,  and  the  North 
Derby  (£1,800)  with  Belle  Mahone ;  on  Wednesday  he 
won  the  Northumberland  Plate  with  Matin  Bell,  the  Monk- 
chester  Plate  with  Governor,  and  the  St.  Oswald  Plate  with 
Peacemaker ;  and  on  Thursday  he  won  the  Seaton  Delaval 
Stakes  (£1,044)  with  Chittabob,  the  Newcastle  Handicap 
with  Bonaparte,  and  the  Thursday  Plate  with  Hawkeye — 
something  like  a  record.  For  many  years  the  Highfield 
establishment  used  to  win  from  fifty  to  sixty  races,  and  on 
one  occasion  the  total  of  seventy-six  races  was  achieved  in 
a  season.  In  those  days  FAnson  used  to  buy  yearlings  at 
Doncaster  and  elsewhere  for  his  patrons,  but  now  most  of 
the  owners  who  train  with  him  breed  their  own,  and  since 
this  state  of  affairs  existed  the  luck  has  not  been  so  good. 


TRAINERS  AND  JOCKEYS          251 

Other  Malton  trainers  are  Charles  Lund,  who  trains  for 
Lord  Harewood,  Major  Joicey,  and  others;  Binnie,  whose 
patrons  are  mostly  Scotchmen  ;  Bruckshaw,  whose  principal 
patron  until  quite  lately  was  Lord  Decies ;  William  Sander- 
son, who  has  recently  won  a  lot  of  races  with  the  stock  of 
Breadknife ;  and  Tinsley,  whose  establishment  is  the  smallest 
of  the  lot.  All  the  above  use  Langton  Wold  for  their  gallop- 
ing ground,  and  all  turn  out  a  good  proportion  of  winners, 
though  they  seldom  come  south  of  the  Midlands. 

Middleham  has  known  so  many  changes  of  late  that  it 
is  hardly  recognisable  as  the  place  it  was.  Fred  Bates,  who 
trained  so  long  for  Sir  Robert  Jardine  and  Mr.  Bibby,  has 
retired,  and  T.  Weldon,  the  trainer-jockey,  has  taken  Tup- 
gill.  Bates  was  always  a  dangerous  man  when  he  fancied 
one  of  his  charges,  and  at  Ascot  for  many  years  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  making  a  big  mark.  How  many  Ascot  Stakes 
winners  he  actually  trained  I  am  not  quite  certain,  but  he 
won  the  race  twice  with  Teviotdale,  once  with  Ishmael, 
twice  with  Lord  Lome,  and  once  with  Enniskillen,  all  within 
the  space  of  fourteen  years.  Then  too  Harry  Hall  and 
Drislane  not  long  ago  went  over  to  the  majority,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  veteran  John  Osborne  and  Dobson 
Peacock  are  the  only  Middleham  trainers  who  have  been 
there  more  than  a  year  or  two.  John  Osborne,  who  lives 
at  Brecongill,  on  the  south  side  of  Middleham  low  moor, 
and  overlooking  the  Coverdale  Valley,  has  been  more  or  less 
a  trainer  all  his  life,  for  in  his  early  riding  days  he  lived  with 
his  father,  old  John  Osborne,  and  after  the  decease  of  the 
last-named  he  was  in  partnership  with  his  brothers  Robert 
and  William.  Since  John  Osborne  gave  up  riding  in  public 
he  has  conducted  a  small  stable  with  marked  success,  and 
in  1898,  for  example,  he  trained  half  a  dozen  winners  of 
eleven  races.  His  trump  card  was  King  Crow,  who  within 
a  few  weeks  won  the  Great  Northern  Handicap,  the  Man- 
chester Cup,  and  the  Northumberland  Plate,  and  it  is  a 
thousand  pities  that  this  fine  stayer  could  not  afterwards 
stand  training.  He  ran  in  the  Caesarewitch,  but  pulled  up 
very  lame.  John  Osborne  is  quite  of  the  old  school  of 
trainers,  but  he  has  nothing  to  learn  from  the  younger 


252  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

generation,  and  considering  that  costly  and  fashionably-bred 
yearlings  are  unknown  at  Brecongill,  he  fairly  holds  his 
own. 

Dobson  Peacock  has  now  the  largest  stable  at  Middleham, 
having  succeeded  to  much  of  Harry  Hall's  business.  He  is 
a  painstaking  and  capable  man,  and  I  never  saw  a  horse 
turned  out  in  finer  condition  than  his  Xury  was  when 
Grey  Leg  just  beat  him  in  the  City  and  Suburban  in 
1894.  Peacock's  stables  are  in  the  town  of  Middleham,  but 
W.  Swann  has  Spigot  Lodge,  where  Harry  Hall  lived,  on 
the  north  side  of  the  low  moor,  while  T.  Connor  is  at 
Thorngill.  W.  Ridley  also  has  charge  of  a  small  string, 
and  the  latest  new-comer  is  Tom  Chaloner,  the  trainer  of 
Marco,  who  has  some  half-dozen  horses,  the  property  of 
Mr.  Smith  Ryland.  As  a  general  rule  the  Middleham 
training  is  got  through  on  the  low  moor,  but  there  is  fine 
going  on  the  high  moor,  further  away  from  the  town,  and, 
as  the  name  suggests,  at  a  higher  altitude. 

Richmond-trained  horses  are  seldom  heard  of  nowadays, 
and  since  the  race  meetings  ceased  the  moor  above  the 
pretty  Yorkshire  town  has  been  little  utilised  for  training 
purposes.  Thomas  Lunn  still  has  charge  of  a  small 
team,  and  Latham,  the  steeplechase  jockey,  looks  after  a 
longish  string  of  cross-country  nags,  most  of  whom  are 
owned  by  Mr.  J.  Monro  Walker.  At  Bainesse,  close  by 
Catterick,  Swainstone  trains  a  few  home-bred  ones  for  Mr. 
David  Cooper,  and  at  Kirkbank  Hall,  some  few  miles  from 
Richmond,  Marriner  trains  privately  for  Mr.  N.  H.  Scott. 
Richmond  Moor,  however,  is  not  requisitioned  for  Swain- 
stone's  or  Marriner's  horses,  and  truth  to  tell  Richmond  only 
plays  a  modest  hand  in  the  game  of  modern  racing. 

Another  old-time  Yorkshire  training  quarter  is  Hambleton 
Moor,  situated  some  few  miles  east  of  Thirsk,  but  on  the 
summit  of  the  moorland  range,  and  not  in  the  great  plain 
of  York  which  travellers  going  North  know  so  well.  Since 
the  death  of  the  veteran  Tom  Green  there  has  only  been 
one  stable  at  Hambleton,  that  of  J.  Vasey,  which  wins  in 
its  turn  on  the  Northern  Circuit.  At  one  time  Green  was 
trainer  to  the  late  Lord  Durham,  and  in  his  day  he  held  his 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS          253 

own  with  all  his  Yorkshire  rivals.  At  Pontefract  Steel  trains 
for  one  or  two  owners ;  and  at  Beverley  there  are  half  a 
dozen  small  stables  which  provide  a  moiety  of  the  platers 
for  the  Northern  meetings.  No  flat-racers  are  trained  in 
Northumberland  or  Durham  (though  many  thoroughbreds 
are  still  bred  in  the  last-named  county),  but  Armstrong  has 
a  long  string  at  Penrith,  in  Cumberland,  and  wins  many 
races  in  the  North,  having  in  1900  turned  out  eleven  winners 
of  fifteen  races,  a  number  which  is  not  quite  up  to  his 
average.  Some  few  horses  are  trained  in  Scotland  too, 
chiefly  in  the  vicinity  of  Ayr,  but  their  efforts  are  mainly 
confined  to  Scotland  and  the  extreme  North  of  England, 
and  very  rarely  do  any  of  them  win  south  of  the  Trent. 

JOCKEYS 

Whether  the  best  of  the  jockeys  now  riding  are  as  good 
as  the  Clifts,  Arnulls,  Chifneys,  Buckles,  and  Robinsons  of 
a  hundred  years  ago,  more  or  less,  or  as  those  who  were 
to  the  fore  in  the  middle  of  the  century,  such  as  Bill  Scott, 
Marson,  Butler,  and  Templeman,  is  a  point  which  I  need 
not  attempt  to  decide;  but  it  is,  and  has  been  for  some 
years  past,  the  fashion  to  decry  present-time  jockeys,  and 
to  extol  nearly  every  knight  of  the  pigskin  of  a  former 
generation.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  riding  has  not 
deteriorated  among  the  front  rank,  but  that  there  are  not  so 
many  good  second-rate  jockeys  as  there  were  some  years 
ago.  Archer  may  have  had  more  daring  and  Fordham*  more 
cunning  than  anyone  who  is  now  riding,  but  it  is  my  opinion 
that  Watts,  the  Cannons,  Madden,  and  Samuel  Loates  are 
just  as  good  as  any  five  who  can  be  mentioned  during  the 
last  thirty  years,  and  that,  at  his  weight,  we  have  never  seen 
anyone  so  good  as  the  American  jockey  Sloan. 

*  The  opinion  which  Mat  Dawson  expressed  to  us  was  that  George  Fordham 
was  undoubtedly  the  best  of  the  jockeys  that  had  come  within  his  knowledge. 
This  relegation  of  his  own  apprentice,  Fred  Archer,  to  second  place  was  a  very 
eloquent  tribute  to  Fordham.  To  our  representations  in  favour  of  Mornington 
Cannon  he  replied,  "  He  is  what  I  call  a  dilettante  jockey,"  a  description  which 
is  too  delightful  to  be  lost.  Within  a  month  or  so  of  this  conversation  Mat 
Dawson  had  followed  Fordham  and  Archer  to  the  beyond. — ED. 


254  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

That  there  has  been  a  scarcity  of  good  light-weights  for 
long  enough  cannot  be  disputed,  but  the  fact  is  that  there 
are  so  many  welter  races  nowadays  that  the  light-weight  is 
not  so  much  needed  as  he  was  when  the  handicaps  went 
down  to  5  st.  7  Ibs.,  and  therefore  he  has  been  less  in  evidence. 
The  Stewards  of  the  Jockey  Club  have  realised  the  position, 
hence  the  new  rule  providing  for  at  least  one  apprentices' 
race  per  year  on  all  courses  where  four  days'  racing  are  held 
annually,  with  exceptions,  and  the  subsequent  extension  of 
the  5-lb.  allowance  to  handicaps  as  well  as  to  selling  races. 
I  was  glad  to  see  these  innovations  introduced,  for  it  is 
pitiful  to  contemplate  that  more  races  are  nowadays  lost 
through  the  incompetence  of  the  light-weights  than  was  the 
case  when  the  scale  was  lower.  In  this  connection  I  have 
often  thought  that  the  weights  for  some  of  the  two-year-old 
races  in  the  early  spring  might  well  be  lowered.  As  it  is, 
two-year-olds  carry  9  st.  and  8  st.  1 1  Ibs.  in  March,  and  if  a 
Brocklesby  winner  tries  to  follow  up  his  success  at  North- 
ampton or  other  adjacent  meeting  he  has  to  put  up  within 
4  Ibs.  of  10  st,  which  is,  I  venture  to  say,  far  too  heavy  a 
burden  for  a  two -year -old  so  early  in  the  year.  The 
stewards,  and  indeed  a  majority  of  the  Jockey  Club,  seem 
anxious  to  relieve  the  strain  of  early  two-year-old  racing  as 
far  as  possible,  and  I  would  like  to  suggest  to  the  Turf  law- 
givers that  lowering  the  weights  would  do  nearly  as  much 
good  as  decreasing  the  value  of  the  stakes.  It  is  an  anomaly 
that  five-  and  six-year-olds  should  frequently  be  set  to  carry 
less  than  7  st.  in  handicaps,  and  that  horses  who  are  barely 
two  years  old  in  point  of  actual  existence  should  begin 
racing  with  9  st,  with  the  prospect  for  the  winner  of  a  heavy 
penalty  in  its  next  race. 

Now  that,  in  spite  of  uninformed  or  only  too  deliberate 
opposition,  the  starting-gate  has  been  introduced,  the  evil 
that  was  so  prevalent,  of  keeping  the  two-year-olds  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes  dancing  about  at  the  start 
with  heavy  weights  on  their  backs,  has  disappeared.  This 
was  a  very  serious  evil,  and  the  irritation  and  confusion 
caused  in  a  young  horse's  mind  by  the  perpetual  starting 
and  pulling  up  that  went  on  must  have  gone  a  long  way 


TRAINERS  AND  JOCKEYS          255 

towards  creating  many  bad-tempered  ones.      It  must  also 
have  been  very  harmful  to  their  legs. 

Whilst  considering  the  present  front  rank  of  English 
jockeys  to  be  as  good  as  any  that  preceded  it,  at  the  same 
time  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  up  to  a  season  or  two  ago, 
there  was  a  general  tendency  on  the  part  of  even  the  most 
accomplished  horsemen  to  dawdle  over  their  races,  and  not 
to  run  them  through.  Whether  a  majority  of  the  jockeys 
were  almost  invariably  tied  down  with  waiting  orders,  or 
whether  they  one  and  all  rode  in  their  own  style,  is  beside 
the  question.  The  fact  remains  that  in  a  great  number  of 
races  beyond  six  furlongs  in  distance  there  was  a  disinclina- 
tion to  come  through.  In  really  long  races  the  pace — 
especially  if  the  field  was  small — was  often  ridiculously  bad, 
and  a  horse  who  had  been  trained  to  go  two  miles  was  in 
the  actual  race  hack-cantered  for  a  mile  and  a  half  and  then 
let  go  for  the  last  half-mile.  In  races  run  in  that  fashion 
stamina  was  not  duly  served,  and  I  have  often  heard  owners 
complain,  when  their  horses  were  beaten,  that  there  had  been 
no  pace  until  the  turn  for  home  was  reached.  It  seemed 
indeed  as  if  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  foremost  jockeys  preferred 
to  wait  until  close  home,  and  then  ride  a  "  gallery "  finish, 
and  what  we  might  have  got  to  had  not  Sloan  and  his 
American  following  put  in  an  appearance  cannot  be  con- 
jectured. 

That  Sloan  has  taught  the  English  jockeys  something  is 
quite  evident,  because  of  the  altered  style  of  jockeyship  since 
his  arrival  in  this  country.  The  little  American  is  a  con- 
summate judge  of  pace,  and  if  he  gets  off  well  he  seldom 
allows  himself  to  get  shut  in  at  a  critical  moment.  This 
being  shut  in,  by  the  way,  is  the  greatest  evil  which  can  come 
of  the  waiting  system.  When  ten  horses  start  on  a  course 
with  a  bend  in  it,  and  all  the  jockeys  are  hanging  back 
waiting  on  each  other,  there  is  almost  invariably  a  closing  up 
when  the  final  rush  comes,  and  very  often  the  horse  which 
could  win  on  its  merits  is  shut  in  until  too  late.  This  is 
seen  every  week,  and  though  it  may  arise  in  any  circum- 
stances, it  is  generally  attributable  to  the  victim  having  been 
waited  with  instead  of  being  sent  through. 


256  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

I  am  by  no  means  advocating  that  running  should  be 
made  with  every  horse,  and  that  the  whole  field  should  go 
hammer  and  tongs  from  start  to  finish,  but  I  maintain  that 
waiting  has  been  much  overdone  in  recent  years,  and  that  the 
fallacy  of  it  has  been  exploded  by  Sloan.  The  American 
jockey  has  had  an  immense  amount  of  practice  with  the 
watch,  and  most  certainly  when  he  first  came  to  this  country, 
in  the  autumn  of  1897,  he  was  a  better  judge  of  pace  than 
the  average  English  jockey.  I  remember  seeing  Sloan  ride 
at  Derby  very  shortly  after  his  first  arrival  in  this  country. 
He  had  the  mount  on  Stonebow  in  the  Chaddesden  Stakes, 
for  which  there  were  sixteen  runners.  Stonebow  stood  at 
10  to  i,  Ardvourlie  being  a  tremendous  favourite,  with 
M.  Cannon  in  the  saddle.  At  the  distance  Ardvourlie  came 
out  pulling  double,  and  immediately  afterwards  Sloan  came 
with  a  tremendous  rush.  He  did  not  quite  get  up,  and  was 
in  fact  beaten  a  neck,  but  he  gave  Cannon  such  a  shock  that 
the  latter  was  still  riding  when  he  was  ten  lengths  past  the 
post — a  most  unusual  occurrence  with  this  jockey,  who  had 
clearly  not  judged  the  pace  so  well  as  Sloan. 

William  FAnson,  of  Malton,  was  I  believe  almost  the 
first  of  the  English  trainers  to  recognise  Sloan's  worth,  and 
this  was  before  Sloan  had  achieved  any  great  measure  of 
success  in  this  country.  I'Anson  had  a  horse  named  Bave- 
law  Castle,  a  very  free  goer  and  a  hard  puller,  who  had  failed 
once  or  twice  owing  to  running  himself  out.  When  the 
Malton  trainer  had  formed  his  opinion  about  Sloan  he  put 
him  up  on  Bavelaw  Castle  at  the  Manchester  November 
Meeting  of  1897.  I'Anson  explained  the  character  of  the 
horse,  but  he  never  pulled  an  ounce  with  Sloan,  nor  did  he 
come  more  than  a  few  yards  in  any  of  the  several  false  starts 
which  preceded  the  race.  At  the  finish  he  won  cleverly  by  a 
length  and  a  half,  but  I'Anson,  in  spite  of  what  Sloan  told 
him,  was  not  satisfied  that  it  was  a  well-run  race.  Two  days 
later  Sloan  rode  Bavelaw  Castle  again  over  a  rather  longer 
course,  and  this  time  the  trainer  told  him  to  make  the  pace 
hotter.  This  Sloan  did  so  well  that  the  Malton  horse  won 
in  a  canter  by  any  number  of  lengths,  and  the  circumstance 
suggests  that  Sloan  is  not  only  a  good  judge  of  pace,  but  is 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          257 

gifted  with  very  fine  hands.  Indeed,  I  have  seen  him  win  on 
all  sorts  of  rogues,  and  no  doubt  it  was  delicate  handling 
and  mouth-touching  on  the  part  of  the  jockey  that  caused 
such  as  Sea  Fog  and  Galashiels  to  come  out  as  reformed 
characters  when  the  American  had  the  leg-up. 

Since  John  Osborne  ceased  riding  we  have  no  jockey  of 
more  than  early  middle-age,  and  just  now  Charles  Wood 
is  probably  the  doyen  of  the  profession.  Wood  was  an 
absentee  for  several  seasons,  but  when  he  reappeared  in 
1897  he  showed  at  once  that  his  hand  had  not  forgotten 
its  cunning,  and  in  spite  of  his  long  retirement  he  was  third 
on  the  winning  list  of  the  year,  with  a  total  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty- two  wins.  In  the  following  season  he  was  first 
past  the  post  on  ninety  occasions,  but  now  that  he  has 
become  Lord  Rosebery's  trainer  he  has  almost  ceased  to  take 
chance  mounts,  and  seldom  rides  except  for  his  own  stable. 
Wood  was  never  quite  first-rate,  either  during  his  early  or 
his  later  career ;  he  could  hold  his  own  with  the  front  rank, 
and  that  was  all,  though  under  certain  conditions  and  on 
courses  that  he  liked  he  was  often  seen  to  the  greatest 
advantage.  In  old  days  he  used  to  have  a  wonderful  follow- 
ing at  Alexandra  Park,  and  on  this  particular  course  I  used 
to  think  him  a  pound  or  two  in  front  of  anyone  else. 

Perhaps  the  finest  jockey  now  before  the  public  is  John 
Watts,*  who  learnt  his  riding  from  Tom  Cannon  at  Dane- 
bury, and  who  has  been  well  to  the  front  since  he  won  the 
St.  Leger  on  Ossian  for  the  late  Duke  of  Hamilton  in  1883. 
When  this  took  place  Watts  was  practically  unknown  ;  he 
had  tried  his  luck  as  a  jockey  some  time  before,  but  had 
not  met  with  any  great  amount  of  success,  and  but  for 
getting  the  mount  on  Ossian  he  might  never  have  made 
the  name  he  has.  Watts  followed  up  his  Ossian  success 
on  The  Lambkin  for  the  St.  Leger  of  1884,  and  he  has 
since  won  the  race  on  Memoir,  La  Fleche,  and  Persimmon. 
The  Derby  he  has  won  four  times,  on  Merry  Hampton, 
Sainfoin,  Ladas,  and  Persimmon ;  the  Oaks  four  times,  on 

*  Since  this  was  in  type  the  retirement  of  Watts  from  riding  in  public  has 
been  announced,  but  we  understand  from  him  that  he  might  ride  again  if  his 
weight  kept  right. — ED. 
S 


258  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Bonny  Jean,  Miss  Jummy,  Memoir,  and  Mrs.  Butterwick ; 
the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  twice,  on  Ladas  and  Kirk- 
connel ;  and  the  One  Thousand  Guineas  four  times,  on  Miss 
Jummy,  Semolina,  Thais,  and  Chelandry.  In  all  he  has 
ridden  the  winners  of  nineteen  classic  races,  and  though 
he  cannot  go  to  scale  below  9  st.  he  maintained  a  wonderful 
average.  He  has  an  elegant  seat  and  beautiful  hands, 
combined  with  a  good  knowledge  of  pace,  and  he  seldom 
throws  away  a  race  by  coming  too  late.  Indeed,  if  the  horse 
is  good  enough  Watts  can  always  win,  and  that  is  a  great 
deal  more  than  can  be  said  for  some  of  the  present-day 
jockeys. 

Mornington  Cannon  at  twenty-nine  is  quite  at  the  head 
of  the  profession,  though  he  finds  8  st.  6  Ibs.  quite  as  light 
as  he  cares  to  ride.  He  of  course  learnt  his  riding  at 
Danebury  under  his  father,  and  he  has  the  pretty  style  of 
the  Cannon  family,  but  is  apparently  a  far  stronger  jockey 
than  his  father  was.  Cannon's  rush  is  a  thing  to  be  watched 
and  admired,  and  at  fairly  "lifting"  a  horse  in  on  the  very 
post  he  has  at  present  no  rival.  To  me  he  seems  to  get  more 
out  of  a  horse  than  do  most  of  the  present-time  jockeys;  but, 
curiously  enough,  nearly  all  his  greatest  victories — victories 
in  which  jockeyship  has  been  an  all-important  factor  in  the 
result — have  been  obtained  in  minor  races,  and  he  has  by  no 
means  won  more  than  his  share  of  the  classic  events.  He 
won  the  St.  Leger  on  Throstle  in  1894,  Dut  ne  never  was 
successful  in  the  Two  Thousand  or  Derby  until  he  won  on 
Flying  Fox,  and  in  1900  he  won  the  Oaks  for  the  first  time 
on  La  Roche.  He  has  never  ridden  a  winner  of  the  One 
Thousand  Guineas.  In  1894  an^  tne  three  following  years 
he  headed  the  list  of  winning  jockeys,  but  in  1898  he  had 
to  put  up  with  third  place  to  Madden  and  T.  Loates,  each 
of  whom  had  over  two  hundred  mounts  more  than  he  had. 
Cannon's  fault,  which,  however,  has  disappeared  very  much 
of  late,  is  that  he  is  too  fond  of  waiting  behind,  and  too 
averse  to  setting  the  pace.  A  year  or  two  ago  it  was  a  most 
unusual  thing  to  see  him  near  the  front  in  any  race  until 
the  distance  -  post  was  passed ;  but  of  late  he  has  often 
played  a  forcing  game,  and  no  doubt  this  policy  will  tell 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS          259 

in  the  long-run.  A  very  fine  horseman  and  a  very  bold 
rider  is  Cannon,  and  on  the  Epsom  Course  he  always  shines, 
having  no  fear  of  the  dangerous  Tattenham  Corner.  At  the 
start  in  sprint  races  he  is  second  to  none. 

H.  O.  ("  Otto ")  Madden,  who  is  a  few  months  older  than 
Cannon,  was  born  in  Germany,  and  only  made  his  first 
appearance  as  a  jockey  in  1891.  In  that  year  he  rode  four 
winners,  and  in  the  following  year  he  had  the  same  total, 
while  in  1893  the  number  was  increased  to  seven,  and  in 
1894  to  eleven.  Madden  was  then  a  light-weight  and  little 
known;  but  in  1895  ne  got  a  great  deal  of  riding,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  season  had  amassed  the  respectable  total 
of  fifty-five  wins.  In  the  two  following  years  he  showed 
consistent  improvement,  and  in  1897  he  came  out  at  the 
head  of  the  poll,  having  had  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
successful  rides,  or  eighteen  more  than  T.  Loates,  who  held 
second  place.  Madden  can  go  to  scale  at  about  7  st  5  Ibs., 
so  that  he  gets  an  enormous  amount  of  riding,  and  he  can 
now  fairly  claim  to  be  one  of  the  best  half-dozen  English 
jockeys.  He  is  a  most  determined  finisher,  and  as  bold  as 
a  lion.  He  will  dash  for  an  opening  apparently  without  the 
slightest  thought  of  fear,  and  most  certainly  his  Oaks  victory 
on  Musa  was  entirely  due  to  the  push  he  made  when  he 
saw  that  Corposant  was  in  trouble.  It  is  this  fund  of 
resource  which  has  really  brought  Madden  so  quickly  to  the 
front.  He  won  the  Derby  on  Jeddah  in  1898. 

The  brothers  Sam  and  Tom  Loates*  are  very  good,  and 
indeed  if  it  came  to  a  question  of  whether  Watts,  Cannon, 
Madden,  S.  Loates,  or  T.  Loates  were  really  the  best,  each 
one  of  the  five  would  probably  have  as  many  admirers 
as  the  others.  Sam  Loates  is  thirty-eight  years  old  and 
T.  Loates  three  years  younger,  and  both  have  been  riding 
since  they  were  old  enough  to  be  entrusted  with  a  horse. 
Sam  rode  Harvester  when  he  ran  a  dead -heat  with  St. 
Gatien  in  the  Derby,  and  he  also  won  the  Blue  Ribbon 
on  Lord  Rosebery's  Sir  Visto.  The  Two  Thousand  has 

*  As  Tom  Loates  definitely  retired  from  public  riding  towards  the  close  of 
the  flat-racing  season  of  1900,  my  references  to  him  must  be  considered  as 
dealing  with  the  past. 


260  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

so  far  been  denied  him,  but  he  won  the  One  Thousand 
on  Nun  Nicer  and  Winifreda,  the  Oaks  on  La  Sagesse,  and 
the  St.  Leger  on  Sir  Visto,  and  for  many  years  he  has  been 
among  the  leading  half-dozen  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
T,  Loates  has  been  more  fortunate  in  the  classic  events  than 
his  brother.  He  won  the  Derby  on  Donovan  and  again 
on  Isinglass,  the  St.  Leger  on  Isinglass,  the  Two  Thousand 
Guineas  on  Isinglass  and  St.  Frusquin,  and  the  One 
Thousand  Guineas  on  Siffleuse.  I  have  seen  him  ride  many 
fine  races,  and  have  always  thought  that  he  was  never 
seen  to  greater  advantage  than  when  on  St.  Frusquin  he 
just  failed  to  beat  Persimmon  in  the  Derby.  In  the  Princess 
of  Wales'  Stakes  at  Newmarket  he  rode  a  very  fine  race 
on  the  same  horse.  It  will  perhaps  be  remembered  that 
as  the  leaders  in  that  race  came  to  the  crest  of  the  hill,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  below  the  judge's  box,  Per- 
simmon, St.  Frusquin,  and  Regret  were  as  nearly  level  as 
possible.  All  three  jockeys  were  sitting  still,  and  all 
three  horses  were  going  well,  when  suddenly  Loates 
shot  St.  Frusquin  out,  with  the  result  that  he  instantly 
secured  an  advantage  of  half  a  length.  It  was  then  a  case 
of  Watts,  Loates,  and  Cannon  all  riding  their  hardest,  but 
St.  Frusquin  exactly  maintained  his  advantage,  and  I  have 
always  thought  that  the  victory  was  not  so  much  due  to  the 
horse's  superiority  as  to  the  fact  that  Loates  got  first  run. 

The  brothers  Loates  are  wonderfully  wide-awake  jockeys. 
They  not  only  know  exactly  how  their  own  horses  are  going 
every  time  they  ride,  but  they  can  afterwards  tell  what  all 
the  others  were  doing,  who  were  lucky  and  who  the 
reverse,  and  if  any  particular  horse  who  ought  to  have  won 
was  beaten  they  always  seem  to  know  the  reason,  and  can 
describe  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  defeat.  This 
power  of  observation,  which  is  by  no  means  common  in 
jockeys,  was  likewise  possessed  by  Charles  ("  Ben  ")  Loates, 
the  retired  brother  of  Tom  and  Sam.  In  races  with  the 
redoubtable  Sloan  the  brothers  Loates  have  played  very 
important  parts.  First  it  was  Tommy  who  managed  to  beat 
the  American  on  the  post,  and  when  he  dropped  out  Sammy 
took  up  the  running  with  a  vengeance.  No  more  en- 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          261 

thusiastic  scene  has  ever  been  witnessed  on  a  racecourse 
than  on  the  occasion  of  a  match  at  Gatwick  (it  was  for  but 
£100  a  side),  in  which  Sam  got  the  best  of  Sloan  by  a  neck. 
This  was  the  forerunner  of  many  similar  finishes,  though  it 
has  not  always  been  Loates  who  has  come  off  best.  How- 
ever clever  the  jockey,  he  cannot  win  without  the  horse ; 
which  remark  of  course  applies  to  American  and  English 
jockeys  alike. 

Allsopp,  Rickaby,  and  T.  Weldon  are  jockeys  who  ride 
very  well.  Allsopp  is  famous  for  his  quick  beginnings, 
and  has  ridden  a  Derby  winner  in  Sir  Hugo,  but  he  is  not 
too  strong.  With  the  inside  position  in  a  short-distance 
race  on  a  round  course  like  Northampton  and  Chester 
he  is  always  very  dangerous,  but  in  1900  he  had  far  fewer 
mounts  than  formerly,  and  appeared  to  have  lost  much 
of  his  form.  Rickaby,  who  has  all  Lord  Durham's  riding, 
scales  some  pounds  over  8  st,  and  is  a  very  determined 
horseman.  He  has  not  quite  the  polished  style  of  some  of 
the  others,  but  his  average  is  generally  a  good  one,  and  he 
shines  on  a  circular  course,  where  he  rides  as  if  there  were 
no  such  things  as  posts  at  the  turns.  Weldon  rides  more  in 
the  North  and  Midlands  than  at  Newmarket,  Epsom,  or 
Ascot,  and  lately  he  has  been  very  successful  with  the  horses 
trained  in  Elsey's  stable.  He  is  distinctly  above  the  average, 
and  a  strong  finisher,  who  in  style  reminds  one  of  the  late 
Fred  Archer.  Finlay,  who  has  been  more  associated  with 
Malton  than  Newmarket — though  he  now  rides  more  in  the 
South  than  formerly — is  fair  second  class,  as  is  another 
Northern  jockey,  Seth  Chandley.  W.  Bradford,  who  as  an  ap- 
prentice was  the  best  horse  in  the  stable  of  Tom  Jennings,  jun., 
and  who  won  the  Oaks  on  Amiable,  Limasol,  and  Airs  and 
Graces,  and  the  One  Thousand  Guineas  on  Amiable,  has 
gone  up  in  weight,  and  is  practically  out  of  the  running. 
For  the  jockey  who  puts  on  weight  chances  of  distinction 
do  not  often  present  themselves,  and  a  fine  horseman  who 
suffers  under  this  disadvantage  is  F.  Pratt,  nephew  of  the 
late  Fred  Archer,  who  finds  it  impossible  to  ride  under  9  st. 

Whether  the  English  Turf  needed  a  fillip  or  not,  it  cer- 
tainly got  it  at  the  instance  of  the  American  jockeys,  who 


262  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

may  now  be  regarded  as  a  settled  institution  with  us.  When, 
in  the  autumn  of  1897,  Sloan  made  his  appearance  at  New- 
market, primarily  to  ride  the  horses  owned  jointly  by  Mr. 
Pierre  Lorillard  and  the  late  Lord  William  Beresford,  small 
could  have  been  the  suspicion  of  the  tremendous  revulsion 
in  the  way  of  race-riding  in  England  which  he  was  inaugu- 
rating. That  Sloan  won  races  was  at  first  regarded  as  a 
benevolent  freak  of  Providence  ;  for  who,  taking  the  accepted 
English  seat  as  the  model  of  perfection,  could  do  justice  to 
the  racehorse  in  the  monkey- on -a -stick  attitude  assumed 
by  the  American  ?  How,  in  that  position,  could  he  get  any- 
thing out  of  his  horse,  how  keep  it  straight,  and  how  use  the 
whip  ?  But  whilst  people  continued  to  argue  out  the  theory 
of  the  thing,  Sloan  kept  on  winning,  and  not  always  on  the 
most  likely  of  mounts,  the  attempt  to  show  that  his  success 
was  due  to  horses  being  kept  for  him,  and  mounts  picked, 
not  coming  very  well  out  of  the  ordeal  of  comparison  with 
facts.  No  doubt  he  had  his  fair  share  of  armchair  rides,  but 
what  jockey  in  the  front  rank  is  denied  these  ?  As  a  contrast 
he  had  a  far  larger  proportion  than  anyone  else  of  quite  un- 
expected successes,  and  during  the  brief  season  he  was  here 
he  rode  in  fifty-three  races,  in  which  he  scored  twenty  firsts, 
nine  seconds,  and  six  thirds — thirty-five  times  placed  to 
eighteen  times  unplaced.  The  following  year  Sloan  again 
rode  in  England  in  the  autumn  only,  but  he  rode  many  more 
times,  his  record  being  ninety-eight  races,  and  his  score  forty- 
three  firsts,  twenty-one  seconds,  and  seven  thirds — seventy- 
one  times  placed  to  twenty-seven  times  unplaced.  If  his 
mounts  were  being  picked  for  him  and  the  horses  kept,  one 
must  at  least  accord  an  extraordinary  measure  of  skill  and 
astuteness  to  those  responsible  for  the  picking.  It  could  not 
strike  one  as  otherwise  than  remarkable,  however,  if  such 
successful  preparation  of  winners  were  feasible,  that  it  had 
not  been  discovered  before,  and  that  the  advent  of  Sloan 
had  been  awaited  for  its  full  development.  Nothing  is  more 
likely  than  that  Sloan  rode  winners  who,  properly  ridden, 
were  "  morals "  for  those  particular  races ;  but  the  trouble 
with  trainers  had  been  to  get  jockeys  to  ride  them  properly, 
or,  at  the  least,  to  ride  them  to  orders.  Sloan's  art  consisted 


TRAINERS   AND  JOCKEYS          263 

simply  in  riding  the  horse  to  win — by  how  much  he  did  not 
care.  First  past  the  post  was  his  idea  of  winning,  and  he 
preferred  ten  lengths  to  a  short  head.  English  jockeys  had 
taught  us  to  think  that  they  considered  a  win  by  more  than 
a  head  as  something  very  inartistic,  and  unworthy  of  anyone 
in  the  first  class.  Sloan  wins  by  a  head  and  even  less  at 
times,  but  that  is  when  he  is  not  able  to  win  by  more.  It 
was  a  sad  disillusionment  to  see  a  little  man  lying  along  his 
horse's  neck  in  a  position  in  which,  according  to  ideas  evolved 
from  the  experience  of  generations,  he  could  not  "  help  "  his 
mount  in  the  least,  continually  sailing  away  in  front  of  his 
field.  "  Wait  till  he  uses  his  whip,"  they  cried  ;  and  they 
waited  a  long  time,  for  it  was  rarely  that  Sloan  wanted  to — 
he  won  so  easily  without  it.  People  did  not  then  recognise 
that  an  important  factor  in  Sloan's  successes  was  a  common- 
sense  practice  of  letting  his  mounts  go,  within  reason,  when 
they  wanted  to,  the  ability  to  do  this  with  the  proper  discre- 
tion being  conferred  by  a  fine  knowledge  of  pace.  Then  he 
has  fine  hands,  and  no  jockey  that  ever  lived  could  give  him 
a  pound  in  readiness  to  take  advantage  of  every  circumstance 
arising  in  a  race,  in  adapting  himself  to  what  the  others  are 
doing,  and  to  the  peculiarities  of  a  course.  All  these  things 
we  know  now ;  two  years  ago  people  were  hard  to  convince. 
There  were  some  who  believed  in  him,  however,  and  they 
included  those  who  employed  him  to  ride  their  horses,  much 
to  their  benefit  People  who  had  spent  their  lives  and 
earned  their  living  on  the  racecourse  began  to  say,  "  There 
is  something  in  it,"  though  precisely  what  they  could  not 
define.  The  small  punters  did  not  attempt  to  discover. 
Results  were  quite  good  enough  for  them,  and  they  went 
for  Sloan  to  a  man.  When  Sloan  electrified  us  by  winning 
five  races  off  the  reel  at  the  Newmarket  First  October  of 
1898  the  starting -price  men  fairly  yelped,  and  for  the  re- 
mainder of  that  season  they  paid  Sloan  the  compliment  of 
charging  a  commission  of  from  five  to  ten  per  cent,  on  his 
winning  mounts. 

When  it  became  known  that  Sloan  would  ride  in  England 
throughout  the  season  of  1899  the  cry  was,  "Now  we  shall 
see  what  he  can  do  when  he  has  to  take  mounts  as  they 


264  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

come  instead  of  having  them  picked  for  him ! "  (In  the 
series  of  five  successes  mentioned  he  had  got  home  such 
hopeless  things  as  Landrail,  Libra,  and  Galashiels,  on  whom 
no  one  else  could  win  before  or  afterwards.)  Well,  he  came 
in  1899,  and  this  was  his  record  :  Three  hundred  and  forty- 
five  races,  one  hundred  and  eight  firsts,  sixty-three  seconds, 
and  forty  thirds — two  hundred  and  eleven  times  placed  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty- four  times  unplaced.  Huggins' 
stable  was  in  great  form,  but  much  of  the  success  achieved 
may  fairly  be  attributed  to  Sloan. 

Had  Sloan  been  the  sole  representative  of  the  best 
American  jockeys  to  come  to  England  (indifferent  ones  we 
had  seen  before),  his  appearance  would  have  been  regarded 
much  as  that  of  a  comet,  occurring  at  the  rarest  intervals. 
He  would  not  have  been  associated  with  a  system  or  school ; 
and  had  any  circumstance  arisen  to  prevent  his  coming  for 
a  fourth  season,  Turf  history  would  have  dealt  with  him  as 
a  remarkable  incident  in  racing,  and  he  would  have  been 
alluded  to  as  in  the  world  of  cricket  is  a  mighty  batsman 
or  all-conquering  bowler  of  past  days.  But  other  American 
jockeys  came  to  learn  of  the  Tom  Tiddler's  ground  that  was 
awaiting  capable  riders;  and  during  1899  ]•  H.  Martin  and 
the  brothers  L.  and  J.  Reiff  materially  helped  Sloan  in  main- 
taining a  comparison  between  English  and  American  methods 
of  race-riding  which,  as  the  truth  must  be  told,  was  by  no 
means  to  the  advantage  of  the  English.  Save  amongst  the 
hardest  of  the  hard-headed,  the  fact  was  admitted  that, 
unorthodox  according  to  English  ideas  though  the  American 
system  undoubtedly  is,  there  is  very  much  to  commend  in 
it.  We  have  not  yet  unreservedly  adopted  the  forward 
position  of  the  saddle,  the  shortened  stirrup-leather,  and  the 
crouching  attitude,  but  we  are  on  the  way  to  do  so,  boys 
being  taught  to  ride  that  way,  whilst  several  matured  jockeys 
have  adapted  themselves  more  or  less  to  American  notions. 
Nothing  was  more  remarkable  in  the  racing  season  of  1900 
than  the  unequivocal  way  in  which  Kempton  Cannon  placed 
himself  in  the  front  rank  of  jockeys,  and  if  this  was  not  in 
a  measure  due  to  his  adoption  of  the  American  seat  the 
coincidence  is  very  remarkable. 


TRAINERS   AND   JOCKEYS  265 

Like  ourselves,  the  Americans  sustained  a  sudden  awaken- 
ing in  the  matter  of  riding,  only  it  did  not  come  about  in 
the  public  manner  that  has  been  the  case  in  England.  The 
lesson  was  learned  in  private,  and  the  instructors  were  some 
Indians,  who  won  trials  on  practically  whichever  horses  they 
rode.  It  did  not  matter  how  bad  they  had  been  proved  to 
be  previously,  the  Indians  won  on  them  against  white  jockeys 
riding  proven  better  horses.  The  American  mind,  being 
unprejudiced  by  tradition,  quickly  grasped  the  situation,  and 
hence  we  have  the  evolution  of  Sloan  and  his  compeers. 
Given  the  faculty  to  perceive  and  the  sense  to  adopt,  and 
the  thing  looks  delightfully  simple.  I  take  it  that  what 
was  learnt  from  the  Indian  was  the  peculiar  attitude,  or  seat, 
which  causes  the  jockey  to  become  almost  part  and  parcel 
of  the  horse  as  he  lies  along  his  neck  with  his  hands  close 
to  the  animal's  ears.  In  this  position  he  offers  the  least 
resistance  to  atmospheric  pressure,  which  as  a  force  to  be 
circumvented  scarcely  entered  into  the  calculations  of  the 
old-time  trainer  and  jockey.  That  a  little  atmospheric 
pressure  more  or  less  would  make  any  difference  to  so 
powerful  and  heavy  an  animal  as  a  horse  does  not  seem 
feasible,  but  the  thing  is  easily  demonstrable  when  we  con- 
sider that  horses  travel  at  thirty-five  miles  an  hour,  more 
or  less.  At  this  pace  the  resistance  may  be  roughly  set 
down  at  5  Ibs.  per  square  foot,  and  if  a  jockey  gets  rid  of  this 
amount  of  resistance  by  screening  himself  behind  his  horse's 
neck  he  is  practically  lightening  his  burden  by  5  Ibs.  And 
what  cannot  5  Ibs.  do  on  the  saddle,  other  things  being  equal  ? 
The  riding  of  the  bicycle  should  have  imparted  much 
practical  instruction  in  this  direction,  and  it  would  be  difficult 
to  apportion,  by  means  of  weight,  the  difference  in  resistance 
met  by  a  cyclist  sitting  upright  and  one  stooping  over  the 
handles.  Put  5  Ibs.  too  much  on  a  horse's  saddle  and  men 
will  bet  thousands  against  him.  They  have  had  to  learn 
that  pounds  weight  and  pounds  atmospheric  resistance  are 
convertible.  It  is  not  everyone  who  is  physically  fitted  to 
take  full  advantage  of  the  crouching  attitude,  and  the  most 
perfect — one  might  say  quite  perfect — exponent  of  it  we 
have  hitherto  seen  is  J.  Sloan. 


266  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

But  the  crouching  attitude  alone  will  not  account  for  the 
extraordinary  success  of  American  jockeys,  who  must  be 
accorded  the  possession  of  brains  and  of  a  simple  desire 
to  get  their  mount  near  the  front  at  the  finish  of  every 
race.  This  has  by  no  means  been  accomplished  by  a  system 
of  making  every  post  a  winning-post  without  regard  to 
circumstances,  when  they  are  favourable  (as  in  the  Chester 
Cup  of  1900,  in  which  Sloan  rode  Roughside,  the  winner), 
but  we  see  the  Americans  ride  quite  as  many  winning  wait- 
ing races  as  anyone.  They  possess  more  active  brains  than 
the  average  English  riding-boy  bred  in  the  stable,  and,  with 
everything  else  equal,  this  is  a  sufficient  advantage.  But 
other  things  are  not  equal,  and  for  the  present  the  American 
jockey  possesses  an  immense  advantage.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  owners  and  trainers  who  have  grasped  the  situation 
should  prefer  so  safe  a  pilot  for  their  carefully  prepared  good 
things  to  those  on  whom  so  little  dependence  can  be  placed. 
The  arrival  of  the  Americans  is  one  of  the  best  things  that 
could  have  occurred  for  the  English  Turf;  and  as  the  steady 
stream  of  new  arrivals  from  across  the  Atlantic  shows  that 
the  stay  is  to  be  a  permanent  one,  English  jockeys  must  try 
to  realise  what  is  the  only  way  in  which  they  can  hope  to 
hold  their  own. 

The  close  of  the  season  for  1900  found  an  American 
jockey,  Lester  Reiff,  at  the  head  of  the  winning  list,  and  his 
position  was  the  more  meritorious  because  his  143  wins  were 
the  result  of  553  mounts,  whereas  S.  Loates'  137  successes 
were  the  outcome  of  809  rides. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
BREEDING 

Uncertainty  of  breeding  thoroughbreds — Unaccountable  barrenness  in  mares — 
Proportion  of  foals  to  mares — Half-bred  foals  more  hardy — Practice  of  early 
stinting — The  result  of  two-year-old  racing — Noted  two-year-old  winners — 
Four-figure  yearlings — A  big  lottery — The  prizes — La  Fleche,  Doncaster,  and 
St.  Simon — Table  of  the  failures — Wealthy  owners  the  cause  of  high  prices — 
How  they  go  to  work  at  sales — No  yearling  worth  more  than  1,000  guineas — 
Fashionable  blood — The  figure  system  condemned — Bargains  in  ready-made 
racehorses — Good  ones  bought  out  of  Selling  Plates — Dispersal  of  big  studs 
and  private  sales. 

IT  is  acknowledged  that  breeders  of  thoroughbred  stock, 
more  especially  public  breeders  (i.e.  breeders  for  sale), 
obtain  less  satisfactory  results,  in  point  of  numbers,  than  do 
breeders  of  hunters,  hackneys,  or  those  who  deal  with  any 
description  of  half-bred  equine  stock.  A  Yorkshire  farmer 
who  stints  half  a  dozen  mares  every  year  to  the  local 
thoroughbred  stallion,  with  a  view  to  selling  the  produce  at 
four  years  old  as  hunters,  is  disappointed  if  he  has  not  four 
or  five  young  horses  to  dispose  of  at  the  right  time ;  but  the 
owner  of  a  stud  devoted  solely  to  the  thoroughbred  does 
well  if  two  of  every  three  foals  can  be  sent  to  the  trainer 
when  eighteen  months  old,  or,  in  the  case  of  a  public  breeder, 
to  the  hammer  a  few  months  earlier.  That  thoroughbred 
mares  are  more  often  barren  than  half-bred  ones  seems  to  be 
the  case,  and  the  pages  of  a  stud  book  tell  us  that  many 
mares  who  were  capable  of  winning  races  when  in  training 
turn  out  dismal  failures  at  the  stud.  It  sometimes  happens 
that  merit  in  the  mare  lies  dormant  for  a  generation ;  and 
the  daughter  of  a  famous  mare  occasionally  gives  birth  to 
a  filly  foal  who,  though  of  no  value  herself  for  winning  races, 
becomes  in  time  the  dam  of  one  or  more  good  winners. 

267 


268  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

Then  there  are  the  hopelessly  barren  mares  and  shy  breeders 
— those  who  are  barren  about  three  years  out  of  five — and 
we  may  take  it  that  both  classes  are  more  frequently  met 
with  amongst  thoroughbreds  than  in  other  varieties  of  equine 
stock.  I  remember  a  good-looking  black  mare,  aged  seven 
years,  being  put  up  to  auction  at  Cheltenham  about  the  year 
1870.  She  was  in  the  stud  book,  had  run  as  a  two-year-old, 
and  had  afterwards  been  sent  to  the  stud.  She  was  barren 
for  three  years,  however,  and  her  owner  determined  to  get 
rid  of  her.  She  was  knocked  down  for  nineteen  guineas 
to  a  hunting  man,  and  in  his  hands  she  won  several  steeple- 
chases, besides  being  hunted  for  a  couple  of  seasons  with 
the  Ledbury  Hounds.  She  then  broke  down,  and  was 
stinted  to  a  cart-horse,  then  to  a  thoroughbred  again,  and 
lastly  to  a  pony.  Still  she  never  bred,  yet  veterinary  sur- 
geons could  find  nothing  wrong  with  her,  and  were  quite 
unable  to  account  for  her  continued  barrenness. 

The  proportion  of  thoroughbred  mares  that  foal  every 
year  is  rather  over  two-thirds  of  the  number  at  the  stud. 
In  some  years  the  average  is  considerably  higher  than  in 
others,  this  being  probably  accounted  for  by  the  greater 
propitiousness  of  the  weather  during  the  breeding  season. 
Thus,  in  1896,  3,304  foals  were  returned  to  be  entered  in 
the  stud-book,  while  the  names  of  1,287  mares  were  sent  in 
as  being  barren  in  that  year.  In  1895  tne  living  foals  were 
3,231,  and  the  barren  mares  1,327;  in  1894  tne  living  foals 
3,231,  and  the  barren  mares  1,410;  and  in  1893  the  living 
foals  3,275,  and  the  barren  mares  1,412.  The  figures  for 
the  four  years — a  sufficiently  lengthy  period  to  provide  a 
reliable  average — show  that  the  odds  are  but  slightly  over 
2  to  I  on  any  mare  breeding  a  living  foal.  The  mares  that 
slip  their  foals  have  also  to  be  taken  into  account,  and, 
roughly  speaking,  this  happens  to  about  150  of  the  4,500 
which  are  annually  stinted. 

There  are  no  statistics  concerning  half-bred  stock  which 
can  be  used  for  purposes  of  comparison,  but  the  average 
half-bred  mare,  if  not  put  to  the  stud  too  late  in  life,  is  a 
more  regular  breeder  than  the  average  thoroughbred,  and 
as  a  general  rule  her  produce  are  hardier  and  stronger,  and 


BREEDING  269 

less  liable  to  succumb  to  the  ordinary  ills  which  young  horse- 
flesh is  prone  to.  Important  considerations  are  that  amongst 
half-breds  the  time  of  foaling  is  later,  and  that  both  mare 
and  foal  live  a  more  natural  existence  than  do  their  better- 
bred  neighbours.  As  a  rule  the  thoroughbred  foal  is 
necessarily  born  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  year ; 
the  half-bred  in  May,  June,  or  even  July.  Thus  the  thorough- 
bred spends  the  greater  part  of  his  early  days  under  cover, 
while  its  dam  must  perforce  be  fed  on  dry  food.  The  half- 
bred,  on  the  other  hand,  is  generally  foaled  out  of  doors,  and 
in  weather  that  is  usually  genial.  The  dam,  while  giving  her 
foal  milk,  has  the  benefit  of  the  young  grasses,  and  the  colt 
itself  is  able  to  run  about  from  morning  to  night. 

Whether  the  system  of  stinting  mares  so  early  in  the  year 
is  a  good  one  is  open  to  grave  doubt,  but  so  long  as  the 
age  of  thoroughbreds  dates  from  the  ist  of  January,  and 
two-year-olds  can  win  as  much  money  as  is  now  possible, 
so  long  will  it  be  deemed  incumbent  on  breeders  to  bring 
them  to  hand  as  soon  as  possible,  and  this  can  only  be  done 
by  causing  them  to  be  foaled  very  early  in  the  year.  Public 
breeders  are  the  greatest  offenders,  if  the  term  may  be  used, 
for,  with  few  exceptions,  all  the  yearlings,  bred  expressly  for 
sale,  are  submitted  to  auction  during  the  two  Newmarket 
July  Meetings,  or  at  Doncaster  in  the  early  days  of  Sep- 
tember ;  and  it  is  the  object  of  the  public  breeder  to  send 
his  youngsters  into  the  ring  as  big  as  possible.  New,  in 
order  to  have  a  yearling  really  big  at  eighteen  months 
old  or  less  it  must  be  forced,  and  it  is  this  unnatural  forcing 
which  causes  so  many  of  the  best-bred  and  best-looking  of 
public  yearlings  to  turn  out  failures  on  the  racecourse. 
Year  after  year  one  sees  yearling  colts  sent  into  the  ring 
nearer  16  than  15  hands  high,  and  fillies  half  a  hand  less, 
whereas  had  these  youngsters  been  brought  up  less  arti- 
ficially they  would  certainly  have  averaged  nearly  a  hand 
less  in  height  at  that  period  of  their  existence.  In  addition 
to  being  overgrown  in  the  matter  of  inches,  many  of  them 
have  been  fed  on  soft  food  until  they  are  far  too  fat,  and 
thus  their  worst  points  are  often  completely  hidden.  One 
can  hardly  blame  the  breeders,  who  are  of  course  anxious 


270  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

to  obtain  the  best  possible  interest  on  their  invested  capital, 
and  who,  if  their  yearlings  are  not  ready  for  Newmarket 
or  Doncaster,  probably  miss  their  market  altogether. 

As  things  now  are,  two-year-old  racing  is  practised  on  the 
first  day  and  on  almost  every  subsequent  day  of  the  flat- 
racing  season ;  and  in  the  very  first  week  of  racing,  which  is 
the  last  week  of  March,  such  valuable  prizes  as  the  Brocklesby 
Stakes  at  Lincoln  and  the  Molyneux  and  Sefton  Park  Plates 
at  Liverpool  have  been  on  ofTer.  In  every  programme,  from 
the  first  to  the  last  week  of  the  racing  year,  two-year-olds 
are  catered  for,  in  many  instances  with  great  liberality ; 
thus  there  is  every  temptation  to  the  racehorse-owner  to  run 
his  young  stock  early,  and  try  to  recoup  the  cost  of  its 
rearing  or  purchase  as  soon  as  possible.  Of  course  there  are 
some  men  who  are  content  to  wait  and  who  will  not  have 
their  young  stock  forced,  either  by  the  stud  groom  or  by  the 
trainer,  but  this  class  of  owner  is  very  scarce,  and  in  a  large 
majority  of  cases  the  possessor  of  a  young  racehorse, 
whether  he  has  bought  or  bred  the  youngster,  wishes  for 
a  return  of  his  outlay  at  the  earliest  possible  opportunity. 
It  seems  to  me,  then,  that  the  system  under  which  stakes 
for  two-year-olds  are  offered  in  such  profusion  is  more  to 
blame  than  the  breeder  for  the  forcing  of  blood  stock  which 
at  present  exists ;  but  without  reform  of  the  most  sweeping 
character  the  system  cannot  be  altered,  for  if  two-year-olds 
were  not  allowed  to  run  until,  say,  the  ist  of  August,  as 
is  the  custom  in  France,  it  would  be  impossible  to  fill  the 
programmes  of  the  first  four  months  of  the  racing  season 
as  meetings  are  at  present  arranged.  If  clerks  of  the 
course  did  succeed  in  filling  their  cards  without  the  two- 
year-olds,  we  should  have  the  same  platers  running  day 
after  day,  and  after  a  while  there  would  be  a  great  falling 
ofT  in  the  size  of  the  fields.  There  is  in  my  opinion  only 
one  way  in  which  the  Turf  could  continue  to  flourish  without 
two-year-old  racing  in  the  first  half  of  the  season,  and  that 
is  by  establishing  prizes  for  four-year-olds  equal  in  value 
to  the  existing  three-year-old  prizes,  and  by  enacting  that 
no  two-year-old  prize  between  the  ist  of  August  and  the 
end  of  November  should  be  worth  more  than  £500.  The 


BREEDING  271 

inevitable  upshot  would  be  that  the  value  of  yearlings  would 
deteriorate  at  first,  but  many  owners  of  good-looking  but 
backward  colts  and  fillies  would  not  let  them  run  until 
they  were  three  years  old. 

In  suggesting  this  I  am  merely  putting  a  case,  for  I  know 
very  well  that  such  drastic  reform  is  quite  impossible.  There 
are  too  many  vested  interests  to  be  considered,  and  no  doubt 
many  would  go  so  far  as  to  exclaim,  "After  all  what  does 
it  matter  how  many  young  horses  are  ruined  by  being  put 
into  training  too  early?"  But  the  question  is  too  great 
to  be  thus  shelved,  and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to 
consider  why  it  is  that  so  many  well-bred  youngsters  never 
realise  their  yearling  expectations,  and  why  so  few  good 
horses  nowadays  last  beyond  their  second  season,  ridiculous 
as  it  may  seem.  Early  forcing  as  yearlings  and  too  much 
work  as  two-year-olds  are  the  reasons,  and  a  few  recent 
examples  of  many  that  could  be  cited  will  not  be  out  of 
place.  There  is  The  Bard,  who  won  fourteen  races  as  a 
two-year-old  without  knowing  defeat.  As  a  three-year-old 
he  ran  on  very  few  occasions,  and  as  a  four-year-old  was 
not  seen  on  a  racecourse  at  all.  Donovan  was  another  great 
two-year-old  winner.  Though  beaten  twice,  he  put  together 
a  tremendous  score ;  still,  his  racing  career  finished  with 
the  end  of  his  second  season.  St.  Frusquin  began  as  a 
two-year-old  in  May,  and  won  five  races  out  of  six  that 
year,  finishing  up  a  winner  at  the  Houghton  Meeting.  A 
year  later  he  won  the  Column  Produce  Stakes,  the  Two 
Thousand  Guineas,  was  beaten  in  the  Derby,  and  then 
won  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  and  the 
Eclipse  Stakes  at  Sandown.  He  broke  down  when  in 
training  for  the  St.  Leger,  and  never  ran  again. 

High-class  horses  that  do  not  run  after  they  are  three 
years  old,  even  though  they  be  sound  when  taken  out  of 
training,  are  not  of  such  value  for  the  stud  as  they  would 
have  been  had  they  continued  to  win  races  in  their  third 
or  fourth  season.  This  statement  is  not  affected  by  the 
fact  that  a  three-year-old  who  distinguishes  himself  greatly 
at  that  age  can  always  be  sold  for  more  than  he  is  really 
worth,  but  in  such  cases  he  as  often  as  not  goes  abroad, 


272  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

and  many  English  breeders  fight  very  shy  of  a  sire  who 
did  not  run  after  his  three-year-old  days,  and  who  probably 
never  won  over  a  distance  of  ground.  Public  breeders  did 
not  take  very  kindly  to  Common,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
he  won  all  three  classic  races,  and  their  judgment  has 
been  proved  correct,  for  so  far  this  son  of  Isonomy  has 
not  been  a  great  stud  success,  although  in  1898  Nun  Nicer 
won  the  One  Thousand  Guineas,  and  his  progeny  accounted 
for  the  sum  of  £10,000  in  stakes  in  that  year,  and  since  then 
Osbech  has  been  a  big  winner. 

"  Four-figure  "  yearlings  have  been  plentiful  enough  during 
the  last  twenty  years,  and  very  few  of  them  ever  get  the 
money  back  that  was  paid  for  them  at  auction.  Of  course 
there  have  been  exceptions  to  prove  the  rule,  and  of  these 
there  never  was  a  better  bargain  than  La  Fleche,  who  cost 
the  late  Baron  Hirsch  5,500  guineas  at  the  1890  sale  of  the 
Queen's  yearlings  at  Hampton  Court,  and  won,  amongst 
other  races,  the  One  Thousand  Guineas,  the  Oaks,  the 
St.  Leger,  the  Lancashire  Plate  of  £10,000,  the  Cambridge- 
shire, and  the  Liverpool  Autumn  Cup.  This  wonderful 
mare  reached  the  record  price  for  a  brood  mare,  she  having 
been  sold  to  Sir  Tatton  Sykes  for  12,600  guineas  at  the 
dispersal  of  Baron  Hirsch's  stud  in  1896.  Another  famous 
horse  that  went  through  the  sale  ring  as  a  yearling  was 
Doncaster,  where,  under  the  name  of  "All  Heart  and  No 
Peel,"  he  was  bought  by  the  late  Mr.  Merry  for  900  guineas. 
His  principal  victories  were  gained  in  the  Derby  and  the 
Ascot  Cup,  and  even  if  I  admit  that  he  was  not  exactly  a 
great  horse  he  has  been  the  chief  upholder  of  the  Stockwell 
line  of  Birdcatcher,  having  sired  Bend  Or  (the  sire  of 
Ormonde),  who  at  the  present  day  is  represented  by  such 
horses  as  Kendal,  Bona  Vista,  Martagon,  Orvieto,  Flying 
Fox,  and  many  more  whose  sons  and  daughters  are  winning 
races  every  week.  St.  Simon  was  sold  for  something  under 
£2,000  at  auction,  and  his  sire,  Galopin,  as  stated  elsewhere, 
cost  the  late  Prince  Batthyany  but  520  guineas  when  a 
yearling,  while  Memoir  and  Mimi  were  also  sale -ring 
bargains. 

It  would  be  possible  to  prolong  the  list  very  considerably, 


BREEDING  273 

even  if  one  did  not  take  heed  of  the  handicap  horses  and 
platers  who  have  been  sold  cheaply  as  yearlings  and  after- 
wards won  good  races.  Nevertheless,  the  balance  is  severely 
against  the  sale-ring  yearlings,  one  very  important  factor 
in  bringing  about  this  result  being  that  a  large  majority  of 
the  great  races  are  won  by  home-bred  horses,  that  only  a 
small  proportion  of  "  four-figure  "  yearlings  recoup  the  initial 
outlay  of  their  purchaser  in  stake  money.  To  prove  this 
assertion  by  figures  is  easy,  and  in  the  following  table  I 
have  gone  over  the  sales  for  a  period  of  ten  years — 1883 
to  1892 — a  period  which  enabled  me  to  give  the  complete 
racing  careers  of  all  the  animals  affected. 

No.  of  Cost  at 

Year.  Yearlings.  Auction. 

1883  .         .       ii       ...       15,800  gs. 

1884  .  .          21  34.500     .. 

1885  .         .       20       ...       39,200   „ 

1886  .         .       16       ...       23,120   „ 

1887  .         .       21       ...       3!»35o   „ 

1888  .       .     26     ...     42,270  „ 

1889  .      .     41     ...     73,850  „ 

1890  .         .       58       ...       99.73°   » 

1891  .         .       37       ...       57,520   „ 

1892  .         .       26       ...       45.30°   » 


277       ...     462,640  gs.       ...     ,£203,337 

Thus  the  277  yearlings  that  were  sold  for  1,000  guineas 
and  upwards  each  won  amongst  them  in  stake  money 
considerably  less  than  half  what  was  paid  for  them  as 
yearlings,  yet  the  list  includes  the  large  winnings  of  La 
Fleche,  Mimi,  and  Memoir;  so  that  it  cannot  be  said  that 
bad  years  for  the  public  breeders  have  been  chosen.  Not 
that  the  case  looks  any  better  by  taking  more  recent  years 
as  examples. 

The  buying  of  yearlings  at  auction  is  without  doubt  a 
great  lottery,  but  it  is  a  lottery  in  which  there  are  occasion- 
ally good  prizes ;  and  when  a  new  aspirant  to  Turf  honours 
can  draw  a  La  Fleche  or  a  Mimi,  as  was  done  not  many 
years  ago,  his  boldness  is  well  rewarded.  The  occasional 


274  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

occurrence  of  these  big  prizes  tempts  moneyed  men  to 
continue  to  patronise  the  lottery,  and  if  one  or  two  particular 
sires  happen  to  be  doing  remarkably  well  their  stock  fetch 
far  beyond  their  intrinsic  value.  The  competition  for  the 
stock  of  a  fashionable  sire  is  no  new  thing,  and  it  has  by  no 
means  had  its  day ;  but  far  better,  as  a  general  rule,  is  it  to 
buy  the  produce  of  a  mare  who  has  already  bred  winners, 
whether  the  sire  be  fashionable  or  not,  for  the  stud-book 
shows  that  some  mares  will  throw  winners  to  any  and  every 
horse  they  are  sent  to,  while  others — often  good  performers 
themselves — are  sent  to  the  most  expensive  sires  of  the  day, 
only  to  produce  failures.  Some  nine  or  ten  years  ago  the  craze 
for  expensive  yearlings  was  at  its  height,  and  I  have  seen 
youngsters,  who  to  all  intents  and  purposes  were  of  no  value 
for  racing  purposes,  reach  four  figures  more  than  once  merely 
because  they  were  by  one  of  the  two  or  three  crack  sires  of 
the  day.  Curby  hocks,  ring-bone,  incipient  spavins,  straight 
forelegs,  and  every  other  variety  of  limb  unsoundness  seemed 
to  be  of  no  account  if  the  breeding  was  consonant  with  the 
craze  of  the  moment ;  and  this  it  is  that  makes  the  table  on 
page  273  such  bad  reading.  About  that  time  I  saw  a  colt- 
foal  in  October  by  St.  Simon  out  of  a  mare  that  had  bred  a 
winner.  He  was  a  nice-topped  colt,  but  a  glance  at  his  legs 
revealed  the  fact  that  he  was  never  likely  to  stand  training, 
yet  £2,000  had  been  offered  for  him,  and  in  the  following 
July  at  the  Newmarket  sales  he  brought  several  hundreds 
more.  That  colt  never  ran,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  him 
as  a  sire.  Not  long  since  a  St.  Simon  colt  was  put  up  at 
a  Metropolitan  meeting  without  eliciting  a  bid  of  10  guineas 
even,  and  St.  Simon's  stud  fee  is  said  to  be  600  guineas. 

In  these  times  many  wealthy  men  become  recruits  to  the 
Turf  with  the  laudable  desire  of  winning  the  big  races,  and 
so  long  as  these  come  into  competition  for  the  best  blood 
the  sale  ring  is  bound  to  succeed.  The  new  owner,  with  the 
money  burning  in  his  pockets,  and  probably  trained  to  the 
belief  that  money  can  accomplish  anything,  cannot  wait 
until  he  has  bred  a  good  horse;  and  though  the  sale  of 
ready-made  racehorses  has  assumed  larger  proportions  than 
formerly,  the  yearling  sales  present  to  him  his  only  chance 


BREEDING  275 

of  picking  up  what  he  wants.  He  probably  knows  little  or 
nothing  about  horses,  and  very  possibly  has  decided  to 
employ  a  young  trainer  who  has  yet  to  make  his  mark ;  and, 
though  he  may  have  the  form  at  his  finger-ends,  and  even 
possess  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  stud  book,  curbs 
and  spavins  are  mysteries  of  which  he  has  no  knowledge, 
and  a  good-topped  horse  will  probably  fill  his  eye,  while  if 
he  looks  further,  it  will  be  without  the  aid  of  that  practical 
experience  which  is  a  sine  qua  non  for  a  successful  purchaser 
of  any  kind  of  horseflesh. 

His  next  proceeding  is  to  go  to  Doncaster  or  Newmarket 
in  a  sale  week,  and  then,  if  he  is  determined  to  invest  a 
certain  amount,  the  rest  of  the  business  practically  lies  with 
his  trainer,  probably  a  painstaking  and  conscientious  man, 
who  does  his  best  to  ensure  success.  He  looks  over  the 
yearlings,  makes  his  choice,  and  advises  his  new  patron  that 
one  is  worth  2,000,  another  1,000,  and  a  third  500  guineas, 
as  the  case  may  be.  The  two  lay  their  plans  accordingly, 
and  the  trainer  bids  on  a  fixed  limit.  No.  I  tops  their 
limit,  and  they  lose  it ;  No.  2  does  ditto,  or  else  does  not 
secure  a  bid  of  half  the  amount,  and  the  trainer  being 
suspicious  that  there  may  be  something  wrong  which  he 
has  not  noticed,  ceases  bidding.  Owner  and  young  trainer 
are  both  a  little  ruffled  by  this  time,  and  by  some  misunder- 
standing they  miss  the  one  they  had  set  at  500  guineas,  and 
find  that  all  their  plans  have  come  undone.  A  hurried 
consultation  and  hasty  reference  to  the  catalogue  ensue,  and 
when  the  sale  is  over  probably  a  couple  have  been  purchased, 
about  which  they  have  made  no  inquiries  and  which  they 
had  probably  not  looked  over  at  all.  The  speculation,  which 
it  is  purely,  may  turn  out  a  good  one ;  but  the  probability 
is  that  the  animals  bought  are  totally  different  from  what 
was  originally  wanted,  and  very  likely  are  not  worth  their 
keep. 

This  is  no  imaginative  scene,  for  it  is  to  be  witnessed  at 
every  big  sale,  almost  in  exact  counterpart.  In  such  cases 
it  is  difficult  to  blame  the  trainer  if  his  zeal  slightly  over- 
powers his  discretion.  He  is  anxious  to  fill  his  boxes,  and 
no  doubt  very  desirous  of  winning  races  for  his  new  patron, 


276  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

whilst  at  the  same  time  lacking  the  experience  and  cool 
judgment  and  patience  of  an  older  head. 

Taking  figures  as  a  basis,  no  yearling  racehorse  is  worth 
more  than  ;£i,ooo,  because  the  figures  show  that  only  about 
two  in  every  five  sold  for  that  amount  and  upwards  ever 
recover  the  purchase  money.  There  is,  however,  always  an 
artificial  value  for  the  sort  that  are  the  fashion  of  the 
moment ;  thus  anything  out  of  the  dam  of  a  very  recent 
big  winner,  or  by  one  of  the  fashionable  sires,  is  almost 
certain  to  top  the  four  figures,  so  long  as  he  or  she  is 
passable-looking  in  the  ring.  Public  breeders  naturally  try 
to  hit  the  fancy  of  the  moment,  and  those  with  the  greatest 
amount  of  capital  succeed,  while  those  who  cannot  afford 
a  big  outlay  in  stud  fees,  or  who  do  not  give  much  for  their 
brood  mares,  often  come  out  with  a  very  bad  average.  A 
dozen  years  ago  the  Blankney  stud  yearlings  used  to  com- 
mand the  most  money,  but  after  a  while  owners  got  tired 
of  the  stock  of  Hermit,  and  everyone  wanted  something  by 
Galopin,  or  his  sons  St.  Simon  and  St.  Serf.  Then  the 
Sledmere  stud  came  to  the  fore  and  other  establishments 
in  a  lesser  degree.  Even  more  latterly  Kendal  has  been  all 
the  rage,  owing  to  the  successes  of  Galtee  More,  and  we 
hear  in  consequence  a  deal  about  the  Bruntwood  stud*  and 
the  young  Kendals,  who,  by  the  way,  up  to  the  moment 
have  by  no  means  realised  expectations  formed  about  them. 

It  is  best  in  the  long-run  to  put  aside  all  or  very  nearly 
all  prejudice  in  buying  yearlings.  Year  after  year  sires  that 
have  been  little  heard  of,  who  were  not  remarkable  in  their 
running  days,  and  who  were  not  standing  at  a  fashionable 
stud,  by  sheer  merit  assert  themselves. 

Such  a  one  was  Wisdom,  unknown  and  neglected  in  his 
early  days,  but  he  forced  himself  to  the  front  by  a  constant 
succession  of  winners,  which  culminated  with  Sir  Hugo, 
one  of  the  handsomest  big  horses  that  have  won  the  Derby 

*  The  Bruntwood  stud  has  since  been  removed  to  Howbury  Hall,  Bedford- 
shire, where  the  late  Robert  Peck  had  a  stud  during  the  last  few  years  of  his  life. 
The  stallion  strength  of  the  stud  has  been  added  to  by  the  purchase  of  the 
Australian  sire  Patron,  for  4,100  guineas;  and  Janissary,  sire  of  the  Derby  winner 
Jeddah,  the  property  of  Mr.  Peck,  has  also  been  taken  over. 


BREEDING  277 

in  the  last  two  decades.  Despair  can  also  be  quoted  as 
an  average  performer  of  anything  but  fashionable  blood, 
but  nearly  all  of  his  stock  can  win  races,  though  so  far 
none  of  them  have  attained  to  "classic"  honours.  On  the 
other  hand,  certain  sires,  certain  strains  of  blood,  and  even 
certain  studs  receive  what  seems  like  an  undue  proportion 
of  attention  in  the  Press,  in  the  critical  columns  as  well 
as  in  those  devoted  to  advertisement,  and  the  latest  thing 
we  are  being  told  is  that  So-and-so  is  sure  to  race  because 
his  "  figures "  are  good.  But  figures  cannot  avail  much  if 
make,  shape,  and  constitution  are  lacking,  nor  if  the  same 
fault  or  faults  are  observable  in  both  sire  and  dam.  I  had 
some  thought  of  criticising  this  "  figure  system  "  theory  ;  but 
never  seriously  taken  up  by  breeders,  it  is  already  a  dead 
letter,  succumbing  through  sheer  inanition. 

Various  causes  lead  to  the  great  competition  which  has 
been  in  existence  for  some  years  past  for  yearlings  at 
auctions.  For  instance,  an  owner  of  experience  who  has 
enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  success  is  seen  to  be  bidding, 
and  that  is  quite  enough  to  start  the  millionaire.  "  There's 
So-and-So  bidding,"  he  says  to  himself.  "  If  it's  good  enough 
for  him  to  buy  it's  good  enough  for  me."  Possibly  the 
experienced  owner  may  never  have  seen  the  animal  before, 
and  may  be  bidding  for  a  friend.  Again,  though  it  will 
hardly  be  credited,  the  biddings  are  sometimes  prompted 
by  jealousy.  There  was  quite  a  notorious  case  some  years 
ago,  when  a  young  turfite  invested  thousands  in  yearlings 
merely  because  he  was  determined  that  someone  else  should 
not  have  them.  The  cleverest  bidders,  as  a  rule,  are  trainers 
of  standing,  and  when  they  buy  on  their  own  account  a 
beginner  would  do  well  to  keep  an  eye  on  their  purchases, 
and  if  he  finds  out  that  they  have  not  been  bought  for 
someone  else,  offer  him  a  profit  on  his  bargains.  But  it  has 
always  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  many  trainers  entertain 
a  good  deal  more  prejudice  than  I  think  advisable.  One 
has  a  liking  for  a  certain  strain  of  blood  which  has  done 
him  a  good  turn  in  the  past,  and  is  tempted  to  buy  when 
he  sees  something  of  the  same  strain  offered.  Another  has 
had  a  bad  horse,  or  a  bad-tempered  one  by  a  certain  sire, 


278  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

and  he  decides  never  to  own  one  of  that  "  brute's "  produce 

again  ;  while  a  third  apprises  that  all  the  stock  of  

are  roarers,  because  he  has  had  a  roarer  by  that  particular 
sire. 

On  the  whole,  the  best  auction  bargains  are  to  be  picked 
up  when  ready-made  racehorses  are  submitted — either  as 
Selling  Plate  winners,  or  at  such  sales  as  those  now  held 
annually  at  Newmarket  in  December.  Of  course  selling 
platers  are,  as  a  rule,  fit  to  run  in  nothing  but  Selling  Plates, 
and  it  takes  a  first-rate  judge  all  his  time  to  make  this 
particular  form  of  racing  pay.  It  is  in  a  great  degree  the 
particular  business  of  the  professional  owner  who  has  served 
an  apprenticeship  to  racing  and  has  made  Selling  Plates 
his  particular  study.  This  kind  of  racing  cannot  be  made 
to  pay  except  through  the  medium  of  the  betting  book, 
and,  because  directly  encouraging  gambling,  selling  plating 
is  the  least  satisfactory  form  of  racing  and  likely  to  benefit 
few  in  the  long-run  beyond  the  various  race  funds,  some 
of  which  draw  a  large  portion  of  their  incomes  from  this 
particular  class  of  race. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  really  good  horses  begin  their 
career  in  Selling  Plates,  and  a  shrewd  judge  can  at  times  buy 
or  claim  for  a  few  hundreds  a  horse  that  is  able  to  win  good 
handicaps  later  on.  Hampton  was  bought  out  of  a  selling 
race  at  Moulsey  Hurst  (hence  his  name),  and  afterwards 
won  the  Goodwood  Cup,  the  Northumberland  Plate  under 
8  st.  I2lbs.,  and  a  host  of  other  races,  besides  proving  to 
be  one  of  the  most  successful  stud  horses  of  modern  times. 
Victor  Wild  was  bought  for  350  guineas  at  Alexandra 
Park,  and  won  two  Kempton  Park  Great  Jubilee  Stakes  and 
a  Royal  Hunt  Cup.  Clwyd  ran  in  several  Selling  Plates 
before  he  became  the  property  of  the  late  Colonel  North, 
and  he  won  the  Prince  Edward  Handicap  at  Manchester 
twice  and  the  Jubilee  Stakes  in  1897.  Newcourt  was  bought 
by  William  I'Anson,  of  Malton,  out  of  a  Selling  Plate,  and 
amongst  other  races  he  won  the  Northumberland  Plate 
twice  and  the  Lewes  Handicap.  Another  instance  is  that 
of  Chaleureux,  who  won  the  Caesarewitch  in  1898,  and  quite 
lately  King's  Messenger,  bought  for  1,000  guineas  at  Good- 


BREEDING  279 

wood,  has  since  won  the  Great  Metropolitan  twice  and  the 
Goodwood  Cup. 

It  is,  however,  at  the  dispersal  of  big  studs  that  the 
nuggets  are  most  often  found.  Good  handicap  horses  in 
December  are  often  sold  for  a  few  hundred  pounds,  and 
in  the  following  year  turn  out  to  be  worth  as  many 
thousands.  In  December,  1896,  a  patron  of  Waugh's  stable 
gave  1,300  guineas  for  Piety,  and  in  the  following  May  won 
the  Manchester  Cup  (worth  £1,887)  with  him.  Only  a  few 
weeks  before  Mr.  "  Jersey "  gave  360  guineas  for  Brayhead, 
who  in  the  following  year  won  the  Liverpool  Cup  and  other 
races.  And  in  December,  1897,  the  Duke  of  Portland  disposed 
of  Airs  and  Graces — who  ran  second  for  the  One  Thousand 
and  afterwards  won  the  Oaks — for  470  guineas.  At  the 
same  sale  Mr.  Newton  bought  Clipstone  for  630  guineas, 
and  the  horse  won  two  valuable  handicaps  in  the  following 
spring ;  and  other  bargains  secured  at  the  same  time  were 
Marius  II.,  bought  by  Mr.  C.  D.  Rose  for  1,050  guineas, 
and  Carhaix,  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  for  660 
guineas.  That  it  is  better  policy  to  give  five  or  six  hundred 
pounds  for  a  ready-made  racehorse  than  four  times  the 
amount  for  an  untried  yearling  is  sound  common  sense ; 
but,  strange  to  say,  the  high-priced  yearlings  go  far  beyond 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  average,  whilst  the  ready-made 
racehorses,  if  there  is  no  reserve,  are  sold  cheap.  The  high 
price  of  the  yearling  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  laudable 
anxiety  to  possess  a  "  classic  "  winner,  who  is  not  to  be  met 
with  in  the  ready-made  horse,  with  the  rarest  exceptions, 
some  of  which  are  cited  below. 

Private  sales  are  by  no  means  so  common  as  sales  by 
auction  ;  still  a  good  many  horses — some  valuable  and  some 
the  reverse — change  hands  every  year  by  private  contract, 
but  as  there  is  of  course  no  record  of  such  sales,  it  is  not  an 
easy  matter  to  give  illustrations  of  what  has  been  good  for 
the  buyer,  or  the  reverse.  The  story  is  told  every  week 
how  Lord  George  Bentinck,  sick  at  heart  of  racing,  in  a 
moment  of  despondency  sold  his  entire  stud  for  £10,000, 
and  how  Crucifix  the  next  year  won  the  Derby.  But  the 
normal  lines  of  the  Turf  do  not  run  in  such  grooves  as  this. 


280  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

John  Porter  sold  Sainfoin,  whom  he  owned  in  partnership 
with  Sir  Robert  Jardine,  to  Sir  James  Miller  for  £7,000,  and 
the  colt  promptly  won  the  Derby  for  his  new  owner.  In 
this  case  the  purchase  was  a  good  one,  for  to  win  the  Derby 
ought  to  be  the  height  of  every  racehorse-owner's  ambition  ; 
but  the  horse  reached  his  full  value,  his  form  after  the  Derby 
having  been  most  moderate,  and  so  far  he  has  done  little  at 
the  stud.  For  Childwick  Sir  J.  Blundell  Maple  gave  6,000 
guineas  privately,  and  the  colt  won  the  Caesarewitch,  and  is 
meeting  with  a  fair  measure  of  success  at  the  stud. 


CHAPTER  X 
LINES   OF  BLOOD 

Evolution  of  the  English  thoroughbred — The  origin  from  the  East — Arabs, 
Barbs,  Turks,  and  Persians — Wonderful  increase  in  size — Stamina  greater  in 
Eastern  breeds — Speed  a  modern  development — Stayers  more  numerous  than 
suspected — Four-mile  heats  v.  sprints — The  limit  of  pedigrees — The  descent 
of  Eclipse  goes  back  to  Eastern  sires — Their  mating  with  native  mares — 
Royal  mares — Table  showing  pedigree  of  Eclipse  —  Inbreeding — Lord 
D'Arcy's  importations — Noted  descendants  of  Eclipse — The  Birdcatcher  line — 
Isonomy — Isinglass — Janissary — The  Stockwell  line — Blair  Athol — Ormonde, 
Orme,  and  Goldfinch — Kendal  and  Ormonde — Which  was  the  better  ? — Their 
private  trial — Galtee  More  well  sold  for  £20,000 — Handsomest  thoroughbred 
of  modern  times — Melton — Line  of  Camel — The  Newminster  family — Hermit 
— His  extraordinary  stud  career — Characteristics  of  his  get — Hermit  mares  as 
breeders — The  Hampton  family — Bought  out  of  a  Selling  Race — His  great 
race  for  the  Northumberland  Plate — Some  of  his  descendants — The  Touch- 
stone line — Line  of  Tramp — His  ancestors  and  descendants — A  line  to  be 
encouraged — Line  of  Blacklock — The  best  staying  family  of  to-day — King 
Fergus — Hambletonian — Whitelock — The  St.  Simon-Galopin  family  out  of 
a  £$  mare— Descriptions  of  Blacklock — Voltigeur — Galopin — St.  Simon — 
The  St.  Simons  as  galloping  machines — St.  Simon's  career — Ormonde  or 
St.  Simon  the  better  horse? — Persimmon — Coupled  with  Harkaway  as  the 
horse  of  the  century — Line  of  Herod — Four  celebrated  lines  of  descendants — 
Line  of  Godolphin — Matchem  to  Barcaldine — West  Australian — The  pick  of 
England — Winning  stock  of  Barcaldine. 

THE  DARLEY  ARABIAN 

THE  LINE  OF  SIR   HERCULES 

WE  can  be  tolerably  certain  that  " running  horses " 
were  held  in  high  esteem  in  this  country  as  far 
back  as  the  ninth  century.  Whether  the  horse  was  in- 
digenous to  Britain,  or  was  imported  hither  from  France, 
is  still  a  debatable  point  after  all  that  has  been  written ; 
but  everything  that  can  be  traced  bears  witness  to  the  fact 
that  in  no  other  country  in  the  world,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Arabia,  has  the  horse  been  regarded  with  such 
respect,  or  affection  one  might  almost  say,  as  in  England. 
For  the  past  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  generation  after 
generation  of  horse  lovers  has  devoted  its  best  energies 

281 


282  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

to  improving  the  breed,  and  the  way  this  improvement 
has  been  brought  about  forms  the  most  interesting  and 
profitable  study  to  which  the  breeder  of  thoroughbreds 
can  devote  himself.  It  is  not  by  mere  haphazard  chance 
that  we  have  gone  on  improving  the  racehorse  since,  say, 
the  time  when  public  racing  came  into  existence  in  the 
reign  of  James  I.  until  the  present  day,  when  our  best 
strains  of  blood  are  in  demand  all  the  world  over,  wherever 
the  breeding  of  the  thoroughbred  is  scientifically  under- 
stood. The  French,  German,  and  all  other  Continental 
breeds,  as  well  as  the  American  and  Australian  racehorses, 
are  all  bred  from  English  strains,  and  this  English  blood 
was  in  the  first  instance  obtained  by  crossing  the  mares 
of  Great  Britain  with  sires  imported  from  the  East. 

Although  the  modern  Arabian  horse  cannot  live  with  the 
English  thoroughbred,  his  ancestors  were  the  original  founders 
of  our  breed,  and  it  is  to  them  that  we  owe  the  present 
standard  of  excellence.  The  pedigree  of  every  thoroughbred 
horse  in  this  country  can  be  traced  back  to  strain  after  strain 
of  Eastern  blood,  the  stud  book  showing  the  names  of  no 
fewer  than  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  Eastern  sires,  eighty- 
nine  of  whom  have  been  classified  as  Arabians,  forty-seven 
as  Barbs,  thirty-two  as  Turkish  horses,  four  as  Persian,  and 
two  as  "foreign  horses,"  i.e.  horses  that  could  not  be  more 
definitely  classified.  The  importation  of  all  of  these  dates 
from  the  reign  of  James  I.;  and  although  a  very  large  pro- 
portion did  not  do  much  for  posterity,  amongst  them  were  a 
few  gems  that  are  responsible  for  the  thoroughbred  of  to-day. 

A  very  interesting  development  has  been  the  marked 
increase  in  size  that  has  taken  place.  The  imported  Arab 
was  usually  some  14  hands  high,  occasionally  an  inch  or 
two  higher,  but  seldom  above  14  h.  2  in.  Whereas  nowa- 
days the  average  thoroughbred  horse  is  seldom  less  than 
1 6  hands  at  maturity,  the  height  of  the  mare  being  about 
\\  inches  less.  No  doubt  climate  is  mainly  responsible  for 
this  increase,  for  over  the  greater  part  of  Northern  Europe 
the  horse  is  on  an  average  about  two  hands  higher  than  the 
animal  indigenous  to  warmer  countries,  such  as  the  Arabian, 
the  Barb,  or  the  Mustang.  So  excellent  an  authority  as 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  283 

the  late  Matthew  Dawson  considered  it  to  be  demonstrable 
that  within  the  experience  of  living  persons  the  size  of  the 
racehorse  has  increased  in  this  country. 

Stamina,  or  staying  power,  is  greater  in  the  Eastern  horse 
than  in  the  breeds  indigenous  to  any  other  country,  and  no 
doubt  this  quality,  where  it  is  shown  to  exist — as  in  our  cup 
horses — is  derived  from  their  Arab  ancestors.  In  recent 
times,  however,  speed  rather  than  stamina  seems  to  have 
been  the  desideratum  of  the  racehorse-owner ;  and  though 
the  breeder  may  be  doing  his  best  to  breed  a  combination  of 
the  two  qualities  (which  would  be  absolute  perfection),  his 
hopes  are  often  frustrated,  not  from  any  failure  in  breeding, 
but  because  the  horse  he  has  bred  goes  into  a  stable  where 
long-distance  racing  is  looked  upon  as  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  where  a  speedy  miler  is  more  thought  of  than  a  cup 
horse.  Of  all  the  changes  which  have  gradually  come  about 
in  the  sport  there  is  none  more  marked  than  this  sacrifice 
of  all  other  qualities  to  speed.  With  not  more  than  one 
racehorse  in  every  ten  is  the  attempt  made  to  develop  a 
stayer ;  the  other  nine  are  trained  and  tried  over  the  short 
course,  and  if  found  fast  enough  to  win  five-furlong  races 
are  entered  for  such  and  backed  accordingly.  As  it  is 
some  of  the  few  stayers  we  have,  had  to  "find  themselves 
out,"  or,  in  other  words,  by  some  accidental  display  of  form 
to  reveal  the  fact  that  they  were  likely  to  stay,  and  on  the 
strength  of  that  form  have  been  given  a  chance.  That  many 
of  the  well-known  five-  and  six-furlong  horses  would  stay  if 
they  had  been  trained  with  that  object  in  the  first  instance 
I  have  little  doubt ;  but  the  constant  practice,  begun  in  their 
yearling  days,  of  being  jumped  off  at  speed  and  pushed  along 
as  hard  as  they  can  go  over  a  short  course,  induces  them  to 
cease  to  persevere  directly  they  feel  distressed,  and  nothing 
but  a  very  exceptional  horse  can  travel  at  its  top  speed  for 
much  more  than  half  a  mile.  Yet  numbers  of  sprint — i.e. 
five-furlong — horses  have  turned  out  to  be  high-class  hurdle- 
racers  when  five  or  six  years  old.  Numerous  instances  could 
be  cited,  beginning  with  Chandos,  perhaps  as  good  a  hurdle- 
racer  as  ever  carried  silk,  and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
no  hurdle-race  is  run  over  less  than  two  miles  of  ground,  and 
that  there  are  eight  hurdles  to  be  jumped  on  the  journey. 


284  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Up  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  four-mile  heats 
were  common  at  every  country  race  meeting,  and  horses  had 
to  race  twelve,  sixteen,  and  sometimes  twenty  miles  in  a 
single  afternoon.  I  have  no  desire  to  go  back  to  the  old 
system,  which  overdid  the  thing  altogether,  and  was  almost 
cruel  in  its  severity ;  but  we  have  now  reached  the  opposite 
extreme,  and  about  half  the  young  horses  which  come  into 
training  every  year  are  never  asked  to  go  further  than  a  mile 
in  their  two  or  three  seasons  of  racing.  Many  of  them  too 
are  condemned  as  non-stayers  because  they  cannot  win  a 
five-  or  six-furlong  race,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  the  case  that 
a  large  proportion  of  these  horses  are  "  choked  "  in  attempt- 
ing to  win  over  a  short  cut,  and  would  develop  into  stayers 
— according  to  their  class — if  they  were  trained  differently, 
and  not  hustled  off  their  legs  every  time  they  are  galloped 
in  earnest.  Here  is  an  incident  which  shows  that  a  lack  of 
mere  speed  is  not  a  bar  to  winning  races.  Not  long  since 
a  certain  owner  had  three  or  four  useful  steeplechase  nags, 
with  which  he  won  several  races  in  the  Midlands.  A 
friend  came  for  a  few  days'  hunting  and  brought  with  his 
hunters  a  thoroughbred  pony,  which  was  too  small  for  racing 
purposes  and  did  duty  as  covert  hack.  One  morning,  while 
the  chasers  were  doing  a  "  school,"  the  visitor  rode  the  pony, 
which  was  a  capital  jumper,  round  the  course,  and  that  even- 
ing chaffed  his  host  about  the  slowness  of  his  horses — which 
by  the  way  had  won  seventeen  races  during  the  preceding 
three  months.  The  upshot  of  the  chaff  was  that  the  visitor 
matched  his  pony  to  run  the  horse  which  was  admittedly  the 
best  of  the  team,  three  races,  viz.  half  a  mile  on  the  flat,  a  mile 
on  the  flat,  and  two  miles  over  the  steeplechase  course — best 
two  out  of  three.  There  was  no  occasion  for  the  third  race 
of  the  series,  for  the  pony  won  the  half-mile  and  repeated 
the  dose  at  a  mile;  and  yet  the  horse  he  beat  won  a  fair-class 
handicap  steeplechase  under  1 1  st.  4  Ibs.  only  a  week  later. 

It  is  common  enough  to  hear  a  trainer  with  good  horses 
under  his  charge  exclaim,  a  propos  of  some  non-stayer  who 
has  made  running  for  two-thirds  of  the  distance  in  a  short 
race  and  then  retired  beaten,  "  Oh,  that  can  beat  anything 
I've  got  for  half  a  mile,  but  cannot  go  an  inch  further." 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  285 

These  "  half-milers "  are  not  necessarily  bad  horses  because 
they  cannot  go  any  further  at  the  pace,  and  some  of  them,  if 
trained  differently,  are  capable  of  winning  long  races. 

A  study  of  the  early  volumes  of  the  Stud  Book  reveals  the 
fact  that  no  pedigree  can  be  traced  back  more  than  about 
two  hundred  years,  and  that,  except  in  the  case  of  a  horse 
by  an  imported  sire  out  of  an  imported  mare,  many  of  the 
earlier  ancestors  of  any  and  every  thoroughbred  are  lost  in 
obscurity.  By  way  of  example  let  us  take  the  famous 
Eclipse,  who  was  never  beaten  in  his  running  days,  and  from 
whom — as  will  be  shown  later  on — a  large  majority  of  the 
great  horses  of  the  present  day  are  directly  descended. 
Eclipse,  in  direct  tail  male,  was  the  great-great-grandson  of 
the  Darley  Arabian,  and  of  course  in  this  direction  his  pedi- 
gree ends  with  the  most  famous  of  all  the  imported  sires. 
His  great-great-grandsire  was  Bartlett's  Childers  by  the  Darley 
Arabian  out  of  Betty  Leedes,  and  Betty  Leedes  was  by  Old 
Careless  out  of  Sister  to  Leedes  by  the  Leedes  Arabian  (im- 
ported) out  of  a  daughter  of  Spanker  and  Spanker's  dam. 
Here  in  this  direction  the  pedigree  ends,  as  far  as  tabulated 
particulars  are  concerned,*  but  according  to  the  Stud  Book 
(vol.i.)  Spanker  was  by  the  D'Arcy  Yellow  Turk  (imported)  out 
of  Lord  Fairfax's  Morocco  Barb — Bold  Peg,  an  Arabian  mare. 

Old  Careless,  the  sire  of  Betty  Leedes,  was  by  this  same 
Spanker  out  of  a  Barb  mare,  and  therefore  from  his  great- 
grandsire  (Bartlett's  Childers)  Eclipse  can  be  traced  to 
imported  Eastern  horses  quite  clearly.  We  now  go  back 
to  Eclipse's  grandsire,  Squirt,  who  was  out  of  Sister  to  Old 
Country  Wench,  who  was  by  Snake  out  of  Grey  Wilkes  by 
Hautboy,  her  dam  Miss  D'Arcy's  Pet  mare,  whose  sire  is 
unknown,  but  who  was  the  daughter  of  a  Sedbury  Royal 
mare.  Very  likely  the  Pet  mare  was  by  an  imported 
Eastern  or  the  son  of  such  a  sire,  but  none  of  the  old  records 
give  the  name,  and  thus  the  pedigree  of  Eclipse  is  incomplete 
in  its  sixth  remove.  Then  Snake — so  called  because  he  was 
bitten  by  some  venomous  animal,  and  could  not  be  trained — 
was  by  The  Lister  Turk  out  of  a  daughter  of  Hautboy ;  but 
we  do  not  know  now  how  this  daughter  of  Hautboy  was 

*  See  the  Horsebreeders  Handbook,  by  JOSEPH  OSBORNE  ("  Beacon ;'). 


286  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

bred,  thus  there  are  two  blanks  in  the  second  top  remove 
of  Eclipse's  pedigree.  Hautboy  was  by  the  D'Arcy  White 
Turk  out  of  a  "  Royal "  mare ;  and  here  I  may  mention  that 
the  names  of  two  "  Royal "  mares  occur  also  in  the  top 
remove,  and  that  there  is  considerable  doubt  as  to  what  these 
"  Royal "  mares  really  were. 

That  some  of  them  were  originally  imported  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.  by  order  of  the  King,  who  sent  abroad  for  the 
purpose  Sir  John  Fenwick,  Master  of  the  Horse,  is  a  well- 
known  fact,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  an  exact 
record  of  what  mares  Sir  John  brought  back  or  what  produce 
they  bred.  There  was  no  stud  book  in  those  days,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  all  the  brood  mares  in  the  King's  stud 
were  spoken  of  as  "  Royal "  mares,  and  that  their  female 
produce  were  likewise  so  called.  Where  an  Eastern  stallion 
or  the  son  of  an  Eastern  stallion  was  used  the  old  pedigrees 
are  clear  enough,  but  with  the  mares  a  good  deal  has  to  be 
taken  on  trust.  As  a  consequence,  if  we  were  to  follow  out 
the  pedigree  of  Eclipse  in  all  its  branches,  we  should  find  it 
impossible  to  get  beyond  the  sixth  or  seventh  generation 
with  any  degree  of  certainty,  and  half  a  dozen  times  at  least 
we  should  be  stopped  by  the  words  "  Royal  mare." 

What  seems  tolerably  clear  about  these  "  Royal "  mares 
is  that  soon  after  their  arrival  in  this  country  the  King 
possessed  the  best  breed  of  running  horses  in  the  kingdom, 
and  that  at  his  death,  when  the  stud  was  dispersed,  their 
possession  was  eagerly  sought  by  the  principal  breeders  of 
the  day.  They  went  into  various  hands,  and  afterwards 
became  known  in  many  cases  by  the  names  of  their  pur- 
chasers. Thus,  after  the  fashion  of  those  times,  we  have 
the  Sedbury  Royal  mare,  the  Why  Not  Royal  mare,  D'Arcy's 
Royal  mare  (dam  of  Hautboy),  and  many  others  in  the 
pedigree  of  Eclipse  ;  ergo  in  the  pedigrees  of  nearly  all  our 
modern  racehorses,  were  it  customary  to  carry  them  back  so 
far.  In  order  that  my  readers  may  see  for  themselves  that 
the  modern  thoroughbred  can  be  traced,  roughly  speaking, 
to  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  no  further, 
I  give  as  an  example — and  it  is  the  best  example  that  can  be 
given — the  pedigree  of  Eclipse,  with  (by  permission)  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  Joseph  Osborne  thereon. 


LINES   OF  BLOOD 


287 


PEDIGREE   OF    ECLIPSE. 


£ 
5 

Darley  Arab. 

Was  imported  by  Mr.  Darley,  brother  of  Mr.  Darley  of  Buttercrambe 
(now  called  Aldby  Park),  a  manor  long  in  the  possession  of  the 
Darley  family,  between  York  and  Malton. 

X 

w 

T 

Bartlet's  Q 

Betty  Leedes. 

Careless  by  Spanker  (D'Arcy  Yellow  Turk  —  Old  Morocco  mare,  her 
dam  Old  Bald  Peg  by  an  Arabian  out  of  a  Barb  mare)  —  a  Barb 
mare, 
Sis.  to  Leedes  by  the  Leedes  Arabian  —  dau.  of  Spanker  (D'Arcy  Yellow 
Turk)  —  dau.  of  the  Old  Morocco  mare  —  Spanker's  dam. 

^ 

_r: 

u 

i 

5? 

untryW. 

Snake. 

The  Lister  Turk,  brought  into  England  in  the  reign  of  James  11.,  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Lister,  and  covered  in  Lincolnshire. 
Dau.  of  Hautboy  (D'Arcy  White  Turk—  a  Royal  mare).     There  is  no 
record  of  Snake's  grandam. 

f 

r- 

T 

5 

o 
i 

Grey  Wilkes. 

Hautboy  by  the  D'Arcy  White  Turk  —  a  Royal  mare. 
Miss  D  Arcy's  Pet  mare  —  daughter  of  a  Sedbury  Royal  niare.    The 
name  of  Pet  mare's  sire  not  preserved. 

£ 

w 

V 

_• 

j 

x 
| 

Hutton's 
Bay  Barb. 

This  Eastern  horse  was  imported  about  1720  by  Mr.  Hutton,  of  Marske, 
near  Richmond,  Yorks,  and  besides  being  the  sire  of  Blacklegs,  got 
Black  Chance,  the  best  runner  of  his  day  at  high  weights,  and  many 
other  winners. 

MARS 

B 

T 

I 

._• 

Daughter  of 

Coneyskins  by  the  Lister  Turk  was  a  grey  horse  bred  in  1712  by  the 
Duke  of  Rutland  ;  his  further  breeding  not  preserved. 
The  Old  Clubfoot  mare  by  Hautboy.     The  further  breeding  of  this 
mare  (in  the  stud  of  Mr.  Crofts)  has  not  been  preserved. 

>. 

B 
X 

I 

1 

n 

'o 

Bay  Bolton 
(B.-i7o5). 

Grey  Hautboy  by  Hautboy.     Further  breeding  not  preserved. 
Dau.  of  Makeless  (Oglethorpe  Arabian,  his  dam  unknown)  —  dau.  of 
Brimmer  (D'Arcy  Yellow  Turk  —  Royal  mare)—  dau.  of  Diamond 
(The  Helmsley  Turk,  his  dam  unknown)  —  full  sis.  to  Old  Merlin  by 
Bustler  (son  of  the  Helmsley  Turk),  of  whom  nothing  further  is 
known. 

! 

Daughter  of 

Fox  Cub  by  Clumsy  (Hautboy—  Miss  D'  Arcy's  Pet  mare)—  Charming 
Jenny  by  the  Leedes  A.  —  dau.  of  Spanker  —  tJie  Old  Morocco  mare. 
Dau.  of  Coneyskins  (Lister  Turk)—  Hutton's  Grey  Barb—  Hutton's 
Royal  colt  (Helmsley  T.—  Royal  mare)—  Byerly  Turk—  Bustler. 

1 

1 

* 

The  Godolphin*—  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  Eastern  sires,  about 
whom  opinions  are  divided  as  to  whether  he  was  an  Arabian  or 
a  Barb,  the  best  judges  inclining  to  the  latter  belief  —  was  picked  up 
in  Paris  about  1728  (where  it  is  said  he  had  actually  drawn  a  water- 
cart)  by  Mr.  Coke,  of  Norfolk,  who  gave  him  to  Mr.  R.  Williams, 
by  whom  he  was  presented  to  Earl  of  Godolphin.     A  brown  bay, 
with  some  white  on  off  hind  heel  ;  about  15  hands.     Died  1753. 

I 

i 

Bald 
Galloway 
(  ...  .,  ,\ 

St.  Victor's  Barb  was  imported  into  France  by  M.  St.  Victor,  from 
whom  he  was  purchased  by  Captain  Rider,  of  Whittlebury  Forest, 
Northamptonshire,  and  attached  to  his  stud. 

4 

i 
& 

3 
•S 

Dau.  of  Why  Not  (son  of  Fenwick  Barb)—  her  dam  a  Royal  mare. 

(Bay-i74 

jj 
h 

i 

o 
d 

Sis.  to  Old 
Country  W. 

Snake  by  the  Lister  Turk—  dau.  of  Hautboy  (D'Arcy  White  Turk- 
Royal  mare).     Further  breeding  not  preserved. 
Grey  Wilkes  by  Hautboy  (D'Arcy  White  Turk—  Royal  mare)—  Miss 
D'  Arcy's  Pet  mare  —  dau.  of  a  Sedbury  Royal  ntare. 

PILETTA 

^ 

SonofSnal 

Snake. 

The  Lister  Turk  was  brought  into  England  by  the  Duke  of  Berwick, 
from  whom  he  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Lister. 
Dau.  of  Hautboy  (D'Arcy  White  Turk—  Royal  mare).    There  is  no 
record  of  Snake's  grandam. 

M 

e 

S 

C/5 

Daughter  of 
(B.-I7-). 

Akaster  Turk. 
Dau.  of  a  son  of  Pulleyne's  Arabian  —  dau,  of  Brimmer. 

£ 
| 

| 

1 

Old  Montagu 

(  X 

A  famous  horse  in  the  stud  of  Lord  Montague,  of  Cowdray,  Sussex,  of 
whose  breeding  there  is  no  record. 

0 

s 

£ 

V 

Daughter  of 
(  )• 

Hautboy  by  the  D'Arcy  White  Turk—  his  dam  a  Royal  mare.     This 
sire  was  in  the  stud  of  Lord  D'Arcy  at  Sedbury,  Yorks. 
Dau.  of  Brimmer  (D'Arcy  Yellow  Turk—  his  dam  a  Royal  mare)—  a 
Royal  mare.     Brimmer  was  also  in  the  stud  of  Lord  D'Arcy. 

*  Without  doubt  the  Godolphin  was,  as  Mr.  Osborne  puts  it,  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  Eastern 
sires;  but  during  the  last  fifty  years  or  more  the  produce  in  tail  male  of  the  Darley  Arabian  have 
taken  a  most  decisive  lead. 


288  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Inbreeding  was  resorted  to  very  early  in  the  history  of  the 
thoroughbred.  Whether  the  English  racehorses  who  were 
in  existence  prior  to  the  time  of  Charles  II.  were  inbred  or 
not  one  cannot  say,  because  there  are  no  pedigrees  to  refer  to, 
but  I  imagine  that  inbreeding  had  become  a  doctrine  of  faith 
with  breeders  at  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  in  a  great  measure  it  has  been  the  keynote  to  success 
of  all  breeders  since  that  time.  To  cite  a  very  early  instance 
and  a  curious  one  we  need  not  quit  the  pedigree  of  Eclipse, 
in  which  we  find  that  Sister  to  Leedes  was  out  of  a  daughter 
of  Spanker,  whose  dam  was  (by  Spanker)  out  of  Spanker's 
dam.  This  was  incestuous  breeding  indeed,  but  in  this 
particular  case  the  result  seems  to  have  been  a  good  one, 
and  it  would  be  most  interesting  to  know  the  reason  why 
it  was  resorted  to.  Again,  the  Sister  to  Old  Country  Wench 
was  out  of  a  daughter  of  Hautboy  whose  dam  was  by 
Hautboy,  and  this  same  Sister  to  Old  Country  Wench 
figures  on  both  sides  of  Eclipse's  pedigree,  having  been 
his  paternal  grandam,  and  also  the  great  -  grandam  of 
his  dam  Spiletta.  By  many  authorities  it  has  long  since 
been  agreed  that  Eclipse  owed  his  excellence  to  his  great- 
grandsire,  the  Barley  Arabian  ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  only  one  strain  of  this  famous  Eastern  horse  is  to  be 
found  in  the  pedigree,  while  there  are  no  fewer  than  nine 
strains  of  Hautboy,  who  represents  the  blood  of  D'Arcy's 
White  Turk,  five  of  the  Lister  Turk,  six  of  Spanker 
(by  the  D'Arcy  Yellow  Turk),  and  two  of  the  Leedes 
Arabian. 

Then  there  are  in  all  thirteen  blanks  in  the  pedigree  which 
cannot  be  traced,  and  some  of  the  authorities — notably 
Mr.  Osborne — assume  that  some  at  least  of  these  were  of 
purely  English  blood.  Whether  this  was  so  or  not  it  is 
impossible  to  determine,  but  as  the  record  seems  to  have 
been  well  kept  where  foreign  or  imported  blood  was  used, 
it  seems  but  reasonable  to  assume  that  where  there  is  no 
mention  of  such  blood  it  did  not  occur.  From  this  we  may 
argue  that  the  missing  ancestors  were  all  native-bred  horses 
or  mares.  The  Stud  Book  does  not  give  the  dates  of  the 
importation  of  the  D'Arcy  White  Turk,  or  the  D'Arcy 


LINES    OF   BLOOD  289 

Yellow  Turk,  but  they  were  brought  to  this  country  by  Lord 
D'Arcy  rather  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  were 
located  at  the  Sedbury  stud ;  and  it  is  because  the  records 
of  that  stud  were  careful  to  state  where  Eastern  sires  had 
been  used  that  we  can  assume  that  where  no  Eastern  sire  or 
dam  is  named  the  blank  implies  something  of  English  origin. 

Until  quite  lately  one  rarely  met  with  a  breeder  who  cared 
to  trace  a  pedigree,  with  a  view  to  mating  his  mares,  further 
back  than  the  fifth  or  sixth  remove,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  ancestors  of  Eclipse  and  of  other  horses  who  flourished 
more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  were  not  regarded  as  of  the 
least  importance.  Recently,  however,  enthusiastic  students 
of  stud-book  lore  have  gone  very  carefully  into  the  matter, 
and  the  latest  craze  is  breeding  according  to  what  is  known 
as  the  Figure  System,  already  referred  to. 

In  the  meantime,  in  order  to  trace  the  modern  thorough- 
bred from  his  first  origin  to  his  present  status,  I  must  adhere 
to  Eclipse  for  a  while,  and  show  how  many  of  the  great  lines 
of  the  present  day  are  descended  from  him  in  direct  tail 
male.  From  the  stud  point  of  view  Eclipse  got  two  great 
sons,  Pot-8-os*  and  King  Fergus.  Pot-8-os  was  the  sire  of 
Waxy,  whose  son,  Whalebone,  was  the  sire  of  Sir  Hercules, 
the  sire  of  Birdcatcher.  By  tabulating  the  lines  of  sires  and 
carrying  them  down  to  modern  times  we  can  trace  the 
descent  of  most  of  the  more  celebrated  modern  lines  at  a 
glance. 

Eclipse 
Pot-8-os 
Waxy 
Whalebone 
Sir  Hercules 

Birdcatcher 1 

The  Baron  Oxford 

Stockwell  Sterling 

Doncaster  , Isonomy •. 

—Bend  Or Isinglass 

Common  Janissary 

Nun  Nicer  Jeddah 


Ormonde , 

Orme 


Flying  Fox 

Orvieto        Goldfinch      Bonavista     Kendal 
Martagon     Chelandry     Cyllene         Galtee  More 

*  This  name  was  originally  spelled  Potoooooooos,  the  less  cumbersome  form 
being  adopted  by  writers. 

U 


290  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 


Eclipse 

Pot-8-os 

Waxy 

Whalebone 

Sir  Hercules 

Birdcatcher 

The  Baron — 


I 

I 

nL 


Stockwell  Stockwell        Stockwell  Stockwell 

Lord  Ronald       Blair  Athol     The  Duke  St.  Albans 

Master  Kildare   Craig  Millar  Bertram  Springfield 

Melton  Breadknife      Robert  the  Devil  Sainfoin 

BelDe^o 


These  are  a  few  examples  of  what  is  generally  known 
as  the  Birdcatcher  (sometimes  Sir  Hercules)  line  of  Eclipse, 
in  direct  tail  male,  and  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  blood 
is  well  to  the  fore  at  the  present  day,  thanks  chiefly  to  the 
stud  successes  of  Isonomy  and  Bend  Or.  Directly  under- 
neath the  name  of  Isonomy  is  placed  Isinglass,  undoubtedly 
his  best  son,  and  as  a  sire  Isinglass  is  rapidly  making 
his  mark,  while  Janissary,  who  in  1895  was  advertised 
at  25  guineas  only,  was  credited  with  the  Derby  winner  of 
1898,  Jeddah,  and  an  excellent  two-year-old  in  Amurath, 
who  won  the  Brocklesby  on  his  first  appearance,  but  has 
not  fulfilled  his  early  promise.  As  Janissary  is  fortunately 
in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  will  take  pains  that  he  is 
mated  with  suitable  mares,  he  is  in  every  way  likely  to  dp 
sterling  good  (the  obvious  pun  on  the  name  Sterling  was 
intended)  to  the  Isonomy  line  of  Birdcatcher.  For  Janissary 
Mr.  Robert  Peck  gave  1,000  guineas  only,  but  Common, 
who  won  the  treble  event  of  Two  Thousand,  Derby,  and  St. 
Leger,  cost  Sir  J.  B.  Maple  15,000  guineas  immediately  after 
his  Doncaster  victory.  Though  he  was  probably  put  to  the 
stud  too  soon  and  did  not  make  a  sensation  with  his  first 
two  crops  of  yearlings,  he  has  done  better  since,  and  has 
sired  a  filly  who  won  the  One  Thousand  and  ran  second 
for  the  Oaks,  and  a  very  good  all-round  horse  in  Osbech. 
Besides  Isinglass,  Common,  and  Janissary,  and  a  host  of 
minor  lights,  Ravensbury  can  represent  Isonomy,  though,  un- 
like his  more  brilliant  compeer  Isinglass,  he  has  yet  to  make 
his  name  at  the  stud.  The  produce  of  Isonomy  have  done 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  291 

best  when  they  have  been  bred  from  mares  descended 
directly  from  Newminster  (the  Touchstone  line  of  Eclipse), 
and  Common,  Isinglass,  Janissary,  and  Ravensbury  are 
all  bred  in  this  way.  The  breed  is  possessed  of  far 
more  than  the  average  amount  of  stamina,  and  in  proof 
thereof  I  may  mention  that  Isonomy  won  the  Ascot  Cup 
in  two  consecutive  years,  and  that  Isinglass,  who,  like 
Common,  won  the  "  triple  crown,"  also  won  the  Ascot  Cup, 
while  Ravensbury,  who  came  in  the  same  year  as  Isinglass, 
and  therefore  had  to  play  second  fiddle  in  the  classic  races, 
won  the  three-mile  Alexandra  Plate,  and  the  Manchester 
November  Handicap  of  a  mile  and  three-quarters  when 
carrying  the  heavy  burden  of  9st.  4lbs.  Common  was 
taken  out  of  training  a  little  too  soon  to  enable  him  to 
establish  a  reputation  as  a  real  stayer,  but  he  was  un- 
doubtedly the  best  of  his  year,  and  the  mile  and  three- 
quarters  over  which  the  St.  Leger  is  run  was  well  within 
his  compass.  Though  Isonomy  was  not  a  big  horse,  nearly 
all  his  best  sons  are  high  on  the  leg,  and  this  applies  to  the 
four  I  have  been  writing  about,  and  also  to  his  grandson 
Jeddah,  who,  as  far  as  make  and  shape  are  concerned,  can 
compare  with  any  of  his  famous  ancestors  who  have  lived 
within  our  times. 

This  branch  of  the  Sir  Hercules  strain  of  Eclipse  was 
transmitted  through  Oxford  by  Birdcatcher,  but  perhaps 
the  Stockwell  line  of  Birdcatcher  is  better  known,  and  it 
has  certainly  done  greater  things  in  the  past.  For  long 
enough  Blair  Athol  was  its  best  runner,  but  the  excellence 
of  Blair  Athol  pales  before  that  of  Ormonde,  and  so  far 
neither  of  these  particular  branches  is  the  most  powerful 
from  a  stud  point  of  view.  Why  Blair  Athol  did  not  give 
us  more  great  winners  than  he  sired  is  a  problem  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  solve,  but  he  was  just  an  average  horse  at  the 
stud  and  nothing  more;  and  though  his  descendants  are 
heard  of  fairly  often,  the  line  is  not  holding  its  own.  Blair 
Athol  sired  one  Derby  winner  in  Silvio,  two  St.  Leger 
winners  in  Craig  Millar  and  Silvio,  one  Two  Thousand 
winner  in  Prince  Charlie,  and  two  One  Thousand  winners 
in  Scottish  Queen  and  Cecilia,  but  no  Oaks  winner.  Prince 


292  THE   ENGLISH    TURF 

Charlie,  though  a  roarer,  was  his  best  son,  and  in  spite  of 
his  wind  trouble  this  horse  ran  second  to  Wenlock  in  the 
St.  Leger.  He  has  been  a  success  at  the  stud  in  America, 
and  through  him  the  line  is  likely  to  survive.  In  this 
country  at  present  Breadknife,  by  Craig  Millar,  is  the  best 
representative  of  the  blood.  There  are  others  of  course 
to  keep  the  name  of  the  blaze-face  chestnut  before  us, 
and  notably  Baliol,  who  for  many  years  stood  in  Ireland, 
but  is  now  at  the  Cobham  stud,  gets  many  winners,  both 
over  a  country  as  well  as  on  the  flat. 

I  have  just  stated  that  Ormonde  was  the  best  repre- 
sentative of  Stockwell  from  a  racing  point  of  view ;  and 
though  he  was  a  roarer  he  fairly  proved  his  claim  to  the  title. 
Like  Eclipse,  he  was  never  beaten,  but  he  had  his  work  cut 
out  to  dispose  of  Minting  (who  is  also  a  direct  descendant 
of  Stockwell)  in  that  memorable  Hardwicke  Stakes,  and  his 
stud  career  was  most  unfortunate.  It  is  well  known  that  he 
suffered  from  serious  illness  during  his  one  season  at  the 
stud  in  this  country,  but  he  left  us  Orme  and  Goldfinch, 
and  as  the  latter  was  expatriated  shortly  afterwards  the 
stud  future  of  Ormonde  now  rests  almost  entirely  with 
Orme,  unless  Glenwood,  Llanthony,  or  Sorcerer  prove  good 
enough  to  perpetuate  the  line  of  their  distinguished  sire. 
That  Orme  will  get  many  good  horses  is  in  every  way 
likely,  and  already  he  has  given  us  Flying  Fox  and 
Frontier.  Bend  Or,  the  sire  of  Ormonde,  has,  however, 
other  sons  who,  if  they  were  nothing  like  the  equals  on  the 
racecourse  of  the  Duke  of  Westminster's  champion,  are 
just  as  likely  to  keep  the  breed  going. 

The  names  of  Bonavista,  Martagon,  and  Orvieto  suggest 
themselves ;  and  if  Bonavista  was  sold  to  the  foreigners  for 
.£15,000  he  left  behind  him  Cyllene,  and  doubtless  there 
are  others  to  come.  Martagon  has  already  given  us  Jaque- 
mart,  Cap  Martin,  and  Champ  de  Mars,  and  Orvieto  has 
begun  well,  having  had  several  winners  in  his  first  season. 
At  present,  however,  the  gem  of  the  line  is  Kendal,  the  sire 
of  Galtee  More,  Laodamia,  and  Green  Lawn,  and  he  is 
about  as  beautiful  a  specimen  of  the  modern  stallion  as 
it  is  possible  to  find. 


M 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  293 

Kendal  is  a  big  horse,  but  not  the  least  on  the  leg  now, 
whatever  he  may  have  been  in  his  running  days,  and  his 
two-year-old  career  was  a  wonderful  one.  He  won  the 
Mostyn  Stakes  at  Chester,  was  second  to  Saraband  in  the 
New  Stakes  at  Ascot,  then  scored  a  grand  succession  of 
victories,  winning  a  Post  Sweepstakes  of  £700  at  Stock- 
bridge,  the  July  Stakes  at  Newmarket — wherein  he  beat 
Mephisto  and  St.  Mirin — the  Ham  Stakes  at  Goodwood, 
the  Convivial  Stakes  at  York,  and  the  Municipal  Stakes  at 
Doncaster.  Shortly  after  the  last-named  race  he  hit  his 
leg  when  galloping,  and  in  consequence  in  the  Rous  Stakes 
at  Newmarket  he  succumbed  to  Volta,  and  did  not  run 
again.  Since  those  days  it  has  frequently  been  stated  in 
print  that  Kendal  was  the  superior  of  Ormonde  at  home, 
and  Mr.  Osborne  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  Kendal  and 
Ormonde  were  tried  twice,  and  that  on  both  occasions 
Kendal  won.  John  Porter  however,  in  his  book  Kingsclere, 
says,  "And  yet  the  story  of  Ormonde's  magnificent  career 
may  be  written  in  two  sentences.  He  won  all  his  engage- 
ments. And  he  ran  practically  untried."  Further  on,  how- 
ever, he  says  that  there  was  a  trial  on  October  7th,  which 
resulted  as  follows  : — 

Kendal,          2.  yrs.,  8  st.  7  Ibs.    .  .  .     i 

Ormonde,       2    „     8   „  8  „      .  .  .2 

Whipper  In,  6    „     9   „  6  „     ..  ....  .     3 

Whitefriar,     2    „     9   „  6  „    .^  .     4 

Won  by  a  length,  a  length  between  second  and  third,  and 
two  lengths  between  third  and  fourth.  The  report  adds  that 
Ormonde  was  stripped  for  the  first  time  on  this  occasion, 
and  was  not  very  fit;  therefore  we  must  conclude  that 
"practically  untried"  means  that  as  far  as  Ormonde  was 
concerned  it  was  only  a  "  Yorkshire  gallop,"  or  a  "  rough-up." 
Of  a  second  trial  there  is  no  mention  in  Kingsclere,  but 
this  defeat  of  Ormonde,  even  as  it  was,  and  KendaFs  public 
running  as  a  two-year-old  suggest  that  the  last-named  was 
a  great  horse,  and  he  has  certainly  begotten  one  of  the 
best  of  modern  times.  Nevertheless,  I  am  of  opinion  that 


294  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

Galtee  More  was  well  sold  to  the  Russian  Government  at 
20,000  guineas,  for  as  a  two-year-old  he  had  been  beaten 
by  Brigg  at  Liverpool,  and  when  he  threw  down  the 
gauntlet  in  the  Cambridgeshire  of  1897  he  could  do  no  more 
than  finish  in  the  front  rank.  It  is  true  that  he  carried 
the  substantial  burden  of  pst.  61bs.,  but  Foxhall  won  with 
9  st.  (when  the  weights  began  at  5  st.  7  Ibs.,  the  bottom 
weight  in  Galtee  More's  race  being  6st.),  Plaisanterie  with 
8  st.  1 2  Ibs.,  and  La  Fleche  with  8st.  lolbs.  These  three 
winners  were  three-year-olds,  and  Plaisanterie  and  La  Fleche 
could  certainly  have  carried  a  few  pounds  more  and  still 
have  won.  Galtee  More  never  ran  after  he  was  a  three-year- 
old,  so  the  most  that  can  be  really  urged  in  his  favour 
is  that  he  was  a  long  way  the  best  of  his  year.  He  won 
the  Two  Thousand  and  Derby  almost  without  an  effort, 
and  though  his  St.  Leger  victory  was  barely  gained — as 
the  race  was  run  he  beat  the  Oaks  winner,  Chelandry,  by 
three-quarters  of  a  length  only — it  is  only  fair  to  mention 
that  this  particular  St.  Leger  was  a  most  curious  race.  For 
more  than  a  mile  the  pace  was  ridiculously  slow,  and  they 
only  came  along  in  earnest  from  the  Intake  turn,  the  upshot 
being  that  Galtee  More,  Chelandry,  St.  Cloud  II.,  and  Silver 
Fox  finished  close  together,  and  in  estimating  the  winner's 
merit  I  am  of  opinion  that  he  should  not  be  judged  by  his 
St.  Leger  form. 

As  regards  appearance  and  physical  conformation  Galtee 
More  stands  out  as  the  most  handsome  big  thoroughbred 
of  modern  times.  He  is  big  all  over,  with  immense  bone, 
and  such  a  forehand,  back,  loin,  and  quarters  as  are  rarely 
seen,  and  with  it  all  he  has  an  extraordinary  amount  of 
quality.  He  is  a  most  symmetrical  and  beautifully  turned 
horse,  and  though  he  must  be  well  over  16  hands  he  is  so 
nicely  balanced  and  let  down  that  he  does  not  present  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  leggmess.  Ormonde,  on  the  other 
hand,  always  looked  rather  high  on  the  leg  when  in  training, 
but  he  was  probably  an  inch  higher  at  the  withers  than 
Galtee  More,  and  never  carried  so  much  substance.  He 
was  in  fact,  though  a  big  one,  a  rather  lighter  framed  horse, 
but  his  stride  was  extraordinary,  and  when  stretched  out 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  295 

on  his  way  to  the  post  was  undoubtedly  a  more  taking 
horse  than  Kendal's  great  son. 

With  such  horses  as  Ormonde  and  Kendal,  represented 
in  the  next  generation  by  Orme,  Flying  Fox,  and  Galtee 
More,  it  may  be  fairly  argued  that  Bend  Or  represents  the 
most  important  branch  of  the  Stockwell  line  of  Birdcatcher, 
and,  as  already  mentioned,  there  are  Martagon,  Orvieto,  and 
Bonavista  sprung  from  the  same  source ;  and  Goldfinch,  by 
Ormonde,  gave  us  an  Oaks  winner  in  Chelandry.  Numerous 
other  Bend  Or  horses  there  are  also,  but  one  cannot  here  men- 
tion them  all,  and  only  a  few  who  are  well  before  the  public 
are  referred  to.  Stockwell  has  also  such  direct  descendants 
as  Sainfoin  and  others  who  are  descended  through  Spring- 
field and  St.  Albans ;  and  there  is  another  strain  which, 
coming  through  The  Duke  and  Bertram,  gave  us  that  great 
horse  Robert  the  Devil,  the  rival  of  Bend  Or  on  the  race- 
course, but  inferior  to  Doncaster's  son  from  a  paddock  point 
of  view,  though  he  has  sired  such  good  ones  as  Chittabob 
and  Bel  Demonio,  both  of  whom  have  scored  some  measure 
of  stud  success.  The  blood  has  likewise  descended  through 
Uncas  to  Prism,  Piraeus,  and  others,  and  again  through  Mun- 
caster  and  his  son  Saraband  to  such  as  Suspender,  Worcester, 
Gangway,  and  Milford.  Indeed,  the  line  of  Stockwell  seems 
to  be  of  extraordinary  vitality,  and  many  of  its  representa- 
tives, when  they  go  to  the  stud,  are  capable  of  siring  better 
horses  than  they  were  themselves.  This  is  none  the  less 
true  than  remarkable  when  it  is  remembered  that  with  nine 
good  horses  out  of  ten  it  is  not  the  case.  That  the  Stock- 
wells  do  not  stay  as  well  as  the  Oxford  branch  of  the 
family — represented  by  Isonomy  and  his  sons — the  Racing 
Calendar  plainly  shows,  but  the  majority  of  them  can  get 
a  mile  and  a  half.  Doncaster,  Robert  the  Devil,  and 
St.  Gatien  each  won  the  Ascot  Cup. 

Another  famous  line  of  Stockwell,  through  Lord  Ronald 
and  Master  Kildare,  gave  us  the  Derby  winner  Melton,  a 
very  beautiful  horse,  who  was  for  a  time  domiciled  in  Italy, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  line  was  not  for  a  time  so  well 
known  in  this  country  as  it  might  be,  but  it  has  a  fine  repre- 
sentative in  Best  Man,  whose  stock  are  almost  sure  to  be 


296  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

heard  of  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  and  in  1900  the  stock 
of  Melton  (bred  by  Mr.  Musker  in  England)  did  wonderfully 
well,  two  of  them  being  sold  for  an  aggregate  of  £25,000. 

Stockwell  was  by  The  Baron  out  of  Pocahontas,  and  a 
second  alliance  of  the  pair  resulted  in  Rataplan,  who  was 
one  year  younger  than  his  famous  brother.  Rataplan  was 
also  a  stud  success,  and  is  best  known  through  the  lines 
of  Blinkhoolie  and  Ben  Battle.  Blinkhoolie  was  the  sire 
of  Wisdom,  a  horse  who  forced  his  way  to  the  front  through 
sheer  merit,  for  he  had  no  racecourse  reputation  to  recom- 
mend him,  and  began  his  stud  career  without  flourish  of 
trumpets.  He  sired  scores  of  winners,  and  probably  the 
best  he  ever  got  was  Sir  Hugo,  who  won  for  the  late  Lord 
Bradford  his  only  Derby,  beating  the  gallant  little  La 
Fleche.  Subsequent  events,  and  more  particularly  the 
St.  Leger,  in  which  La  Fleche  amply  avenged  her  defeat, 
proved  that  this  Derby  running  was  wrong  as  far  as  the 
first  and  second  were  concerned ;  nevertheless,  it  permitted 
Wisdom  to  take  his  place  as  a  sire  of  a  Derby  winner, 
and  it  strengthened  the  line  of  Rataplan.  Sir  Hugo,  though 
not  quite  of  the  highest  class,  was  a  good  average  Derby 
winner,  and  a  very  fine  big  horse.  He  had  all  the  com- 
manding size  and  stature  of  the  best  of  the  tribe,  and  if 
he  hardly  had  the  same  amount  of  quality  as  Galtee  More 
as  a  three-year-old,  he  had  even  more  substance  and  was 
very  strongly  built.  It  is  full  early  to  write  of  his  stud 
career,  but  he  has  already  sired  winners,  and  he  is  likely 
enough  to  sustain  the  glories  of  his  line.  Surefoot  is 
another  good  horse  for  whom  Wisdom  was  responsible. 
Rataplan  also  gave  us  Ben  Battle,  the  sire  of  that  wonderful 
horse  Bendigo ;  but  somehow  or  other  Mr.  Barclay's  famous 
black,  a  record  of  whose  handicap  victories  would  fill  a 
chapter  of  this  book,  has  not  been  a  stud  success,  and  so 
far  he  has  given  us  nothing  worthy  of  carrying  down  his 
name. 

THE   LINE   OF   CAMEL 

It  is  perhaps  hardly  necessary  to  go  further  into  the  Sir 
Hercules  (or  Birdcatcher)  line  of  Eclipse — ergo  that  of  the 
Darley  Arabian — for  I  have  shown  how  well  it  stands  to- 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  297 

day.  It  has,  however,  little  to  spare  over  two  other  lines  of 
the  same  family,  those  which  are  generally  known  as  the 
Touchstone -Newminster  line  through  Camel  and  the  line 
of  Blacklock.  For  the  sake  of  brevity  it  may  be  explained 
that  the  Hampton  and  Hermit  families  are  the  chief  present- 
day  representatives  of  the  Touchstone  branch,  and  that  the 
Galopin-St.  Simon  breed  represents  Blacklock.  The  descent 
can  be  best  shown  by  a  table.  Beginning  again,  then, 
with  Eclipse,  the  pedigree  is  the  same  down  to  Whalebone. 

Thus  :— 

Eclipse 

Pot-8-os 

Waxy 

Whalebone 

Camel 

Touchstone 

Newminster 

Hermit. 

I  have  taken  Hermit  first  because  the  1867  Derby  winner 
was  the  first  real  maker  of  the  Newminster  family,  and 
though  at  present  the  family  of  Hampton  are  doing  more 
to  keep  the  line  alive,  the  Hermits  may  be  up  again  in  a 
year  or  two.  Hermit  had  an  extraordinary  stud  career,  his 
sons  and  daughters  winning  during  his  lifetime  between 
£300,000  and  £400,000  in  stake  money  alone.  He  sired  two 
winners  of  the  Derby  (Shotover  and  St.  Blaise),  one  winner 
of  the  Two  Thousand  (Shotover),  two  winners  of  the  One 
Thousand  (Thebais  and  St.  Marguerite),  two  winners  of  the 
Oaks  (Thebais  and  Lonely),  but  no  winner  of  the  St.  Leger. 
On  the  whole  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  his  fillies  were 
better  than  his  colts,  but  he  was  responsible  for  a  host  of 
good  horses  who  did  not  win  classic  honours,  and  Tristan 
and  Timothy,  for  instance,  both  of  whom  were  successful 
in  the  Ascot  Cup,  while  Tristan  won  the  Hardwicke  Stakes 
three  years  in  succession.  Tristan  has  also  sired  an  Oaks 
winner  in  Canterbury  Pilgrim,  and  another  of  Hermit's  sons, 
Trappist,  was  responsible  for  L'Abbesse  de  Jouarre,  who  won 
the  same  race  as  far  back  as  1889.  Many  of  Hermit's  sons 
are  well  known  at  the  stud,  and  such  as  Friar's  Balsam, 


298  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Hazlehatch,  and  Melanion  should  keep  his  name  alive.  I 
can  hardly  enumerate  all  the  good  ones  sired  by  Mr. 
Chaplin's  horse,  but  I  may  mention  that  one  of  them  was 
Ascetic,  the  champion  Irish  steeplechase  sire,  sire  of  Cloister  ; 
and  another  was  Retreat,  who  was  also  responsible  for  a 
Grand  National  winner  in  Father  O'Flynn.  In  the  second 
generation  Hermit's  stock  seem  to  take  wonderfully  to  the 
jumping  business,  and  some  of  the  best  hunters  I  ever  saw 
were  by  Friar  Rush — a  very  beautiful  Hermit  horse — who, 
in  spite  of  his  extraordinary  good  looks  and  grand  pedigree, 
was  allowed  to  become  a  Queen's  Premium  sire. 

Another  very  good  Hermit  horse  was  Heaume,  who  started 
first  favourite  for  the  St.  Leger  of  1890.  This  race  was 
won  by  Memoir,  and  it  will  doubtless  be  remembered  that 
Heaume  (who  won  the  French  Derby  of  that  year)  was  one 
of  the  victims  of  a  series  of  scrimmages  which  took  place 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  finish.  Other  sufferers  were 
Queen's  Birthday  and  St.  Serf,  and  Heaume  when  he  re- 
turned to  the  paddock  looked  as  if  he  had  taken  part  in  a 
serious  cavalry  charge,  so  knocked  about  was  he.  In  the 
opinion  of  many  competent  authorities  Heaume  was  the 
best  three-year-old  of  his  year,  and  he  has  already  made 
a  high  reputation  at  the  stud  in  France,  and  notably  has 
sired  Le  Roi  Soleil,  the  winner  of  the  Grand  Prix  de  Paris 
in  1898.  In  America  the  Hermit  horse  St.  Blaise  has  been 
a  great  stud  success. 

Extreme  quality  combined  with  excellent  symmetry  and 
medium  size  are  as  a  rule  the  chief  characteristics  of  the 
family  of  Hermit.  Some  of  them  have  been  delicate  and 
difficult  to  train,  but  this  delicacy  was  only  occasionally 
encountered,  and  there  probably  never  was  a  harder  horse 
than  Tristan,  who  remained  in  training  for  five  seasons, 
and  was  just  as  good  when  six  years  old  as  he  had  been 
in  his  early  days — perhaps  better.  Then  take  Cloister,  a 
grandson  of  Hermit  in  direct  tail  male.  It  has  been  the 
fashion  to  sneer  at  this  horse  and  to  say  that  he  beat  a  very 
moderate  lot  when  he  won  the  Grand  National ;  but  facts  are 
stubborn  things,  and  about  him  there  is  the  fact  that  he  won 
the  Great  Aintree  Steeplechase  in  a  canter  by  forty  lengths 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  299 

under  the  welter  weight  of  1 2  st.  7  Ibs.,  or  8  Ibs.  more  than 
was  carried  by  Cortolvin  and  Why  Not,  which  pair  were  the 
next  highest  weighted  winners  of  the  race  until  Manifesto 
equalled  Cloister's  record  in  1899.  Cloister,  too,  won  the 
Sefton  Steeplechase  at  Liverpool  with  I3st.  3  Ibs.  in  the 
saddle,  and  both  these  feats  were  accomplished  without  any 
apparent  effort.  If  ever  there  was  a  hard  horse  it  was 
Cloister,  who  won  all  sorts  of  races,  mostly  under  heavy 
weights,  and  was  at  his  best  when  ten  and  eleven  years  old. 
It  is  the  fact  that  some  of  the  best-known  Hermit  colts 
liked  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  quarter  better  than  a  longer 
distance ;  but  the  family  are  by  no  means  invariably  non- 
stayers,  and  besides  Tristan  and  Timothy,  both  Ascot  Cup 
winners,  there  are  Windsor,  who  won  the  Chester  Cup  and 
was  the  dam  of  Windgall  and  Retreat,  who  won  the  Don- 
caster  Cup  and  has  sired  Father  O'Flynn  and  that  good 
mare  Alice. 

Many  Hermit  mares  have  bred  stayers,  notably  Peni- 
tent, who  threw  Ravensbury  to  Isonomy,  and  Moorhen, 
who  bred  Gallinule  to  Galopin  ;  but  now  that  it  has  been 
proved  in  the  second  and  third  generations  it  is  evident  that 
much  of  the  blood  is  not  altogether  stout,  and  at  the  present 
moment  many  breeders  are  fighting  somewhat  shy  of  it. 
My  own  opinion  is  that  it  really  takes  time  to  mature  horses 
of  Hermit  descent,  and  that  many  "who  are  not  genuine 
stayers  at  three  and  four  years  old  can  travel  much  further 
afterwards  if  they  are  kept  in  training.  Under  any  circum- 
stances it  is  ridiculous  to  condemn  any  blood  as  short  of 
stamina  which  can  give  us  Grand  National  winners  and  the 
best  hurdle-racers  of  the  day,  and  it  is  incontrovertible  that 
the  grandchildren  of  Hermit  win  races  innumerable  across 
country  and  over  the  sticks.  When  reading  the  return  of 
a  day's  racing  under  National  Hunt  Rules  at  one  of  the 
enclosures,  I  noticed  that  five  of  the  six  winners  were  by 
sons  of  Hermit,  viz.  two  by  Ascetic,  two  by  Friar's  Balsam, 
and  one  by  Hazlehatch,  and  the  names  of  these  and  other 
Hermit  stallions  are  constantly  cropping  up  in  connection 
with  sport  under  N.H.  Rules. 

The  family  of  Hampton  is  also  in  direct  sire  line  from  the 


300  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

Darley  Arabian  and  Eclipse,  and  is  identical  with  that  of 
Hermit  as  far  as  Newminster.  This  horse,  besides  siring 
Hermit,  gave  us  another  great  racehorse,  and  perhaps  an 
even  greater  sire,  in  Lord  Clifden,  whose  greatest  son,  from 
the  breeder's  point  of  view,  was  Hampton.  It  will  be  as  well 
to  repeat  the  sire  line  so  as  to  make  everything  clear  as 

follows : — 

Eclipse 

Pot-8-os 

Waxy 

Whalebone 

Camel 

Touchstone 

Newminster 

Lord  Clifden 

Hampton. 

Newminster,  who  was  out  of  the  famous  North -country 
mare  Beeswing,  was  the  property  of  the  late  Mr.  Anthony 
Nichol,  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  and  like  his  sire  Touchstone 
he  won  the  St.  Leger.  His  son,  Lord  Clifden,  followed  in 
his  footsteps  twelve  years  afterwards,  and  this  horse  was  a 
great  stud  success,  and  in  his  time  sired  no  fewer  than  four 
St.  Leger  winners — Hawthornden,  Wenlock,  Petrarch,  and 
Jannette.  He  never  'got  a  Derby  winner  or  a  winner  of 
the  One  Thousand,  but  Petrarch  won  the  Two  Thousand, 
and  Jannette  the  Oaks ;  and  Petrarch  is  responsible  for 
two  Oaks  winners  in  Busybody  and  Miss  Jummy,  and  for 
a  sensational  St.  Leger  winner  in  Throstle,  who,  starting  at 
50  to  i,  beat  the  Derby  winner  Ladas  by  half  a  length. 
Indeed  it  would  appear  as  if  the  descendants  of  Newminster 
had  a  sort  of  right  to  the  great  Doncaster  race  at  one 
time ;  but  of  late  years  the  descendants  of  Isonomy  and 
St.  Simon  have  had  their  innings,  and  curiously  enough 
all  three  of  Hampton's  Derby  winners  failed  to  add  the 
Doncaster  race  to  their  Epsom  victories.  I  shall  have  some- 
thing more  to  say  about  Petrarch. 

Hampton  and  his  descendants  are  deservedly  at  the  head 
of  the  Lord  Clifden  line  of  Newminster,  and  therefore  must 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  301 

be  awarded  pride  of  place.  Hampton  was  out  of  Lady 
Langden  by  Kettledrum,  and  was  foaled  in  1872.  He  began 
his  racing  career  in  quite  a  humble  manner,  and  was  for 
some  time  a  selling  plater.  He  won,  amongst  other  un- 
important races,  a  Selling  Plate  on  the  old  Hampton  Course 
(now  Hurst  Park)  and  from  this  circumstance  he  obtained 
his  name.  After  a  while  he  became  the  property  of  the  late 
Mr.  Robert  Peck,  who  then  resided  at  Russley  in  Berkshire, 
and  who  was  the  cleverest  man  of  his  day,  especially  when 
great  handicaps  were  concerned.  I  suppose  Hampton  had 
been  knocked  about  and  overworked  ;  anyhow,  Mr.  Peck 
had  suspected  that  he  was  possessed  of  latent  merit,  and  he 
wisely  threw  him  up  for  a  time,  then  allowing  him  to  come 
nicely  to  hand.  The  result  was  most  satisfactory,  for  during 
the  next  few  years  Hampton  won  the  Goodwood  Stakes, 
Goodwood  Cup,  Doncaster  Cup,  the  Great  Metropolitan 
Stakes,  a/id  the  Northumberland  Plate — surely  a  pretty 
record  for  an  ex-selling  plater.  He  also  won  some  minor 
events.  This  Northumberland  Plate  victory  was  his  greatest 
performance,  for  he  carried  the  top  weight  of  8  st.  12  Ibs., 
and  had  to  give  13  Ibs.  to  a  good-class  horse  in  Glendale, 
who  was  much  fancied  by  the  late  Lord  Durham  and  his 
friends.  There  was  also  in  the  race  a  mare  named  Muscatel, 
who  carried  the  full  confidence  of  Mr.  William  I'Anson, 
the  Malton  trainer,  and  she  was  one  of  the  handsomest 
big  mares  I  ever  saw.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
Northumberland  Plate  in  those  days  was  one  of  the  biggest 
betting  races  of  the  year,  besides  being  one  of  the  most 
important  long-distance  races  of  the  season.  Handicaps  of 
;£  1,000  were  not  then  to  be  found  with  the  frequency  that 
they  now  are,  and  during  the  summer  months  the  Ascot 
Stakes,  the  Northumberland  Plate,  the  Liverpool  Cup,  and 
the  Goodwood  Stakes  were  by  far  the  most  important  long- 
distance handicaps  decided,  and  there  was  a  market  on  each 
of  them  for  many  weeks  in  advance.  Owners  and  trainers 
laid  themselves  out  for  the  Northumberland  Plate  months 
before,  and  books  were  opened  on  the  event — and  the  winner 
often  backed — before  the  nominations  appeared  in  the 
Calendar. 


302  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

In  Hampton's  year  (1877)  Newcastle  Races  were  held  on 
the  old  course  on  the  Town  Moor,  and  on  this  particular 
occasion    partisanship    between    the    three    horses    I    have 
named  ran  very  high.     The  local  feeling  was  all  in  favour 
of   the   Northern -trained   Glendale   and   Muscatel,  but  the 
Russley  stable  was  everywhere  dreaded  in  those  days,  and 
it  was  freely  conjectured  that  Hampton  would  not  have  been 
sent  the  long  journey  from  Berkshire  unless  he  had  a  great 
chance.     The  Turk's  Head  Hotel  in  Newcastle  was  then  the 
headquarters  of  the  sporting  community,  and  annually  on 
the  day  of  the  chief  race  a  well-known   Northern  turfite 
of  the  time  was  accustomed  to  give  a  breakfast,  or  rather 
luncheon,  there.     I  well  remember  sitting  next  to  Mr.  Peck, 
and  how  he  shook  my  faith  in  Glendale  by  telling  me  that 
Hampton  was  very  likely  to  beat  him.     In  truth  the  master 
of  Russley  feared  Muscatel  more  than  Lord  Durham's  horse ; 
but  there  he  was  wrong,  as  the  two  miles  with  the  long 
ascent    to    the   winning-post    found    out    a  weak    spot    in 
Muscatel,  who  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  finish.     And  what 
a  finish  it  was  !     Hampton  and  Glendale  singled  themselves 
out  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  home,  and  came  clean 
away  from  their  field,  running  locked  together  for  something 
like  three  hundred  yards.      So  tight  was  the  fit   that   the 
crowd  did  not  know  which  had  won  until  the  number  went 
up,  and  though  the  victory  of  Lord  Durham's  horse  would 
have  been  far  more  popular,  Hampton  was  lustily  cheered 
by  the  huge  attendance  of  spectators,  who   at   Newcastle 
were  always  quick  to  recognise  merit  in  a  horse  and  to  cheer 
the  hero  of  a  great  performance. 

It  was  somewhat  curious  that  Hampton  should  run  the 
best  race  of  his  life  on  the  course  where  his  great-grandam 
Beeswing  had  gained  so  many  successes.  But  it  is  quite 
possible  that  a  good  deal  of  Hampton's  gameness  was 
inherited  from  the  famous  old  mare;  and  it  is  a  fact  that 
if  there  are  one  or  two  game  spots  in  the  pedigree  of  a 
thoroughbred,  those  "  spots  "  will  show  their  influence  in  the 
generations  below  them. 

Hampton  was  ridden  in  the  race  just  described  by  Webb, 
and  the  late  Fred  Archer  had  the  mount  on  Glendale,  whose 


LINES    OF    BLOOD  303 

blood  may  survive  in  the  stock  of  the  present  Lord  Durham's 
Peter  Flower,  who  unfortunately  died  after  a  very  short  stud 
career. 

Hampton  was  never  a  big  horse,  and  as  I  remember  him 
in  his  running  days,  stood  about  15  h.  3  in.  high.  He 
was  a  whole-coloured  bay  with  black  points,  very  level, 
and  for  his  size  he  stood  over  a  lot  of  ground.  He  was 
on  rather  short  legs  and  had  immensely  powerful  quarters, 
which  quarters  seem  to  me  to  have  been  most  faithfully 
reproduced  in  his  son  Sheen.  Without  being  of  the  com- 
manding type,  he  still  looked  a  high-class  racehorse,  and  his 
racecourse  manners  were  perfect,  a  remark  which  applies  in  a 
considerable  degree  to  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  family. 

At  the  stud  Hampton  had  to  fight  an  uphill  battle  at  first 
because  of  the  prejudice  which  then  existed,  and  still  exists 
in  some  degree,  against  breeding  from  horses  who  have  been 
chiefly  known  as  "  handicappers,"  and  who  never  measured 
their  strength  against  the  best  two-  and  three-year-old  form 
of  their  day.  It  is  often  thought,  too,  when  an  ex-selling 
plater  develops  unexpected  form  and  carries  off  important 
handicaps,  that  he  is  a  chance  horse,  and  such  horses  are 
generally  neglected  by  breeders.  Hampton,  however,  had 
the  luck  to  be  owned  by  a  man  who  knew  his  value,  and  was 
able  to  give  him  the  chance  of  making  himself.  Of  this  the 
horse  availed  himself  so  quickly  that  the  prejudice  was  soon 
overcome,  and  for  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  hardly 
been  a  more  successful  sire  in  the  kingdom.  At  present  it  is 
perhaps  too  soon  to  decide  whether  his  colts  or  his  fillies 
have  done  most  towards  handing  down  his  name,  but  a  large 
measure  of  success  has  attended  all  the  best  of  Hampton's 
stock,  both  on  the  racecourse  and  at  the  stud  ;  and  whilst  he 
has  given  us  three  winners  of  the  Derby — Merry  Hampton, 
Ayrshire,  and  Ladas — it  must  be  added  that  Persimmon  is 
out  of  a  Hampton  mare.  That  Merry  Hampton  was  the 
worst  and  Ladas  the  best  of  Hampton's  three  Derby  winners 
is  the  general  opinion.  Ayrshire  is  fast  making  a  name  at  the 
stud,  but  Merry  Hampton  has  done  little  to  perpetuate  the 
line.  It  is  early  yet  to  write  of  Ladas  from  the  paddock  point 
of  view,  for  his  progeny  have  not  won  much  so  far,  but  Lord 


304  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

Rosebery's  first  Derby  winner  was  a  beautiful  horse,  and  one 
of  the  finest  movers  that  the  last  two  decades  have  produced. 
He  was  a  more  elegantly  turned  and  showier  horse  than  his 
sire,  and  undoubtedly  was  the  possessor  of  more  "  quality." 
Indeed,  as  regards  this  somewhat  mysterious  attribute  of  the 
thoroughbred,  he  was  quite  an  exceptional  horse ;  and  I 
think  that  if  the  Derby  winners  of  the  last  twenty  years 
were  to  be  judged  as  to  which  had  the  most  "quality,"  a 
unanimous  vote  would  go  to  Ladas.  At  the  same  time  I 
always  thought  that  Lord  Rosebery's  son  of  Hampton  had 
pasterns  that  were  rather  weak  and  too  short,  and,  like  so 
many  of  our  best  modern  racehorses,  he  remained  but  a 
couple  of  seasons  in  training.  Ayrshire,  to  my  thinking,  if 
not  quite  so  brilliant,  was  a  harder  horse  than  Ladas,  and 
he  won  an  enormous  sum  of  money  when  in  training.  At 
the  stud,  as  I  have  already  suggested,  he  is  doing  very  well, 
and  though  he  has  not  yet  sired  a  really  great  horse,  he  has 
had  far  more  than  the  average  amount  of  winners.  Thus  in 
1897  he  was  third  in  the  list  of  winning  sires,  the  two  who 
beat  him  being  Kendal  and  St.  Simon,  but  while  Kendal's 
stock  won  twenty-three  and  St.  Simon's  twenty  races,  sons 
and  daughters  of  Ayrshire  made  up  a  total  of  thirty-four 
wins.  He  has  since  that  time  sired  a  winner  of  the  Oaks, 
Airs  and  Graces. 

Before  Ayrshire  began  to  be  talked  of  at  the  stud,  Royal 
Hampton  had  already  done  a  good  deal  towards  carrying  on 
the  line  of  Hampton.  This  horse  was  foaled  in  1882,  and  he 
has  sired  a  Two  Thousand  Guineas  winner — though  not  a 
very  good  one — in  Kirkconnel,  and  a  far  better  horse  in 
Marcion,  who  won  the  Ascot  Cup  in  1893  an<^  *s  already 
beginning  to  be  heard  of  at  the  stud.  Another  of  Hampton's 
best  sons  was  Sheen,  who  holds  the  record  as  the  highest- 
weighted  winner  of  the  Caesarewitch.  He  is  a  stud  success, 
most  of  his  stock  inheriting  the  stamina  of  their  sire.  Sheen 
was  Hampton's  best  long-distance  runner,  but  he  was  not  at 
his  best  until  five  years  old,  when  he  put  on  record  three 
extraordinary  performances  under  very  heavy  weights.  One 
of  these  was  his  winning  the  Caesarewitch  with  9  st.  2lbs.  in 
the  saddle ;  the  other  victories  were  gained  in  the  races  for 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  305 

which  the  prizes  were  provided  by  Mr.  C.  D.  Rose  in  the 
interests  of  long-distance  racing.  One  of  these  was  a 
handicap  on  the  Suffolk  Stakes  Course  (one  mile  and  a  half), 
in  which  Sheen  carried  9st,  and  the  other  a  plate  on  the 
Caesarewitch  Course,  for  which  his  weight  was  9  st.  8  Ibs. 

In  1898  no  fewer  than  nineteen  sons  and  five  grandsons 
of  Hampton  were  at  the  stud  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

Lord  Clifden's  son,  Petrarch,  won  the  Two  Thousand 
Guineas  and  St.  Leger  in  1876  and  the  Ascot  Cup  in  the 
following  year,  and  sired  Busybody,  who  won  the  One 
Thousand  Guineas  and  the  Oaks  in  1884,  and  Miss  Jummy, 
who  completed  the  same  double  event  two  years  later.  He 
had  no  Derby  winner,  but  his  daughter  Throstle  won  the 
St.  Leger.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  Petrarch's 
daughters  were  better  than  his  sons ;  but  he  sired  a  very 
high-class  horse  in  The  Bard,  who  was  quite  good  enough  to 
have  won  the  Derby  in  nine  years  out  of  ten.  As  it  was,  he 
came  in  Ormonde's  year,  but  even  then  he  made  a  very  good 
fight,  and  within  a  few  days  he  made  a  bold  bid  for  the 
Manchester  Cup,  beating  everything  but  Riversdale  of  his 
own  age,  who  was  in  receipt  of  nearly  2  st  As  a  two-year-old 
The  Bard  was  undefeated  and  won  an  extraordinary  number 
of  races.  He  is  now  a  very  successful  sire  in  France.  At 
present  Petrarch  is  best  represented  in  this  country  by  Floren- 
tine and  Lactantius,  either  of  whom  gets  a  good  many  winners. 

From  Touchstone,  through  Ithuriel,  Longbow,  and  Toxo- 
pholite,  Musket  was  descended,  and  though  this  particular 
line  is  little  known  in  this  country,  it  has  done  great  things 
in  Australia,  where  its  best  exponent  has  been  Carbine,  a  son 
of  Musket.  Carbine  was  five  years  ago  imported  by  the  Duke 
of  Portland,  chiefly,  I  believe,  with  a  view  to  crossing  him 
with  St.  Simon  mares.  Whether  the  experiment  will  be  a 
success  or  a  failure  is  hardly  proved  as  yet,  but  no  doubt  the 
blood  is  very  valuable.  In  addition  to  Carbine  other  repre- 
sentatives of  the  same  family  have  found  their  way  to  this 
country.  Trenton,  a  good  winner  and  a  most  successful 
sire  in  Australia,  has  been  for  three  seasons  at  the  Cobham 
stud,  and  Carnage  also  stood  there  for  a  season,  but  he  has 
since  been  sold  to  go  abroad  for  a  sum  which  was  little  less 
x 


306  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

than  £10,000.  Judged  by  our  standard  these  Australian 
horses  are  a  little  short  of  quality,  but  all  that  I  have  seen 
are  very  strongly  built,  and  their  wonderful  bone  makes  up 
for  their  lack  of  the  more  aristocratic  attribute.  Trenton  has 
decidedly  more  quality  than  many  of  them,  and  frames  out 
a  very  fine  specimen  of  the  matured  stallion.  He  is  a  whole- 
coloured  dark  bay  and  stands  over  a  lot  of  ground,  but  he 
dips  more  behind  the  withers  than  he  should  do  at  his  age, 
though  in  other  respects  he  carries  his  years  well.  Carnage, 
when  I  saw  him,  had  not  been  long  out  of  training.  He  is  a 
big  powerful  horse,  but  a  little  common  to  look  at.  His 
forehand  however  is  just  about  perfect,  and  what  I  con- 
sidered to  give  him  his  common  look  were  his  queer  quarters. 
He  is  what  some  call  goose-rumped,  but  he  looks  all  over 
like  going  and  has  very  much  the  cut  of  a  high-class  steeple- 
chaser. Other  Australian  horses  of  Musket  blood  have  been 
since  imported,  and  their  stud  results  will  be  eagerly  awaited. 
I  think  it  possible  that  not  much  good  will  accrue  from  a 
first  cross,  but  the  second  and  third  crosses  ought  certainly 
to  have  a  beneficial  influence,  and  I  have  every  faith  in  the 
ultimate  success  of  the  experiment. 

THE   LINE   OF  TRAMP 

Not  so  well  known  as  the  line  of  Blacklock  or  Sir 
Hercules  is  that  of  Tramp,  represented  in  the  present  day 
by  the  sons  and  grandsons  of  Beadsman  and  Rosicrucian. 
Nevertheless,  this  branch  of  the  Eclipse  family  is  a  powerful 
one  and  has  always  been  noted  for  its  stayers.  The  descent 
in  tail  male  from  Eclipse  to  the  present  day  is  as  follows  : — 

Eclipse 
Joe  Andrews 
Dick  Andrews 
Tramp 
Lottery 
Sheet  Anchor 
—  — Weatherbit 

Brown  Bread          Beadsman — \ 

Rosicrucian         Cceruleus. 
Beauclerc  Blue  Green. 

Tyrant. 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  307 

Joe  Andrews  spent  most  of  his  stud  life  as  a  hunter  sire 
in  the  West  of  England,  but  the  chestnut  Dick  Andrews 
was  a  better-known  horse,  and  he  became  famous  as  the 
sire  of  Tramp  and  that  grand  mare  Altisidora,  both  of 
whom  were  bred  by  Mr.  Watt,  of  Bishop  Burton — the 
breeder  of  Blacklock.  Tramp  was  not  a  big  one,  only 
15  h.  2  in.,  according  to  the  traditions,  but  he  was  a  nice 
level  horse,  and  he  improved  greatly  in  appearance  as  he 
grew  older.  Four- mile  heats  were  his  strong  point,  and 
when  he  was  at  the  stud  at  Bishop  Burton  it  used  to  be 
the  proud  boast  of  his  groom  that  he  was  shod  with  four 
gold  cups.  He  sired  a  host  of  good  horses,  including  two 
winners  of  the  Derby,  and  one  of  the  St.  Leger,  but,  so 
far  as  he  concerns  us  here,  Lottery  was  his  best  son,  as  it 
is  through  him  alone  that  the  line  in  tail  male  has  been 
transmitted.  Lottery  is  described  as  having  been  a  very 
blood-like  horse,  but  rather  weak  behind  the  saddle.  He 
was  cursed  with  a  shockingly  bad  temper,  and  so  often  got 
the  better  of  his  grooms  that  Mr.  Watt  wanted  to  shoot 
him.  However,  he  passed  into  other  hands  at  ^400  instead, 
and  was  a  fair  horse,  but  not  a  great  one  in  his  running 
days.  He  was  half  a  hand  higher  than  his  sire,  Tramp, 
and  at  the  stud  he  sired  Weatherbit,  a  rather  light-fleshed 
horse  with  wonderful  hindquarters.  Weatherbit  was  in  time 
put  to  Mendicant,  by  Touchstone,  out  of  Lady  Moore  by 
Tramp,  and  the  inbred  produce  of  the  pair  was  Beadsman, 
who  sired  a  Derby  winner  in  Blue  Gown,  and  a  St.  Leger 
winner,  Pero  Gomez,  who  had  been  beaten  a  head  by 
Pretender  for  the  Derby.  Blue  Gown  was  not  a  stud 
success  in  this  country;  but  another  son  of  Beadsman, 
Rosicrucian — a  great  horse,  a  great  stayer,  and  an  Alexandra 
Plate  winner — in  turn  sired  Beauclerc,  a  Middle  Park  Plate 
winner,  who,  through  hitting  his  leg,  was  unable  to  take 
part  in  the  Derby  of  his  year.  Beauclerc  is  a  nicely- 
balanced  medium-sized  horse,  and  his  stock  have  won  some 
£70,000,  though  he  has  not  been  well  patronised  of  late. 
Perhaps  his  best  son  was  Tyrant,  who  ran  up  an  extra- 
ordinary sequence  of  handicap  victories  a  few  years  ago, 
and  who  certainly  inherited  the  family  gift  of  stamina.  At 


308  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

the  stud  Tyrant  has  been  fairly  successful  so  far,  his  best 
runner  being  Telescope,  who  was  second  to  Sir  Visto  in  the 
St.  Leger,  and  afterwards  won  the  Northamptonshire  Stakes. 
Tyrant,  bred  by  Mr.  Mclntyre  (now  of  the  Theakston  Hall 
stud),  was  the  first  foal  of  Queen  of  the  Meadows  by 
Exminster  (son  of  Newminster),  and  on  his  dam's  side  he 
traces  back  to  Alice  Hawthorn,  who  was  out  of  a  Lottery 
mare ;  he  is  therefore  inbred  to  the  Tramp  family  in  his 
extreme  removes.  He  is  a  fine  big  horse,  with  an  enormous 
bone  measurement  below  the  knee,  but  he  took  a  long  time 
to  mature  as  a  racehorse,  and  it  was  not  until  he  was  five 
years  old  that  he  showed  such  capital  form.  It  would 
appear  that  the  line  of  Rosicrucian  is  most  likely  to  be 
carried  on  by  Tyrant,  though  Beauclerc  is  hale  and  hearty 
yet,  and  might  easily  sire  one  or  two  quite  as  good. 

Another  of  Beadsman's  sons  was  Cceruleus,  and  from  him 
out  of  the  famous  Angelica  by  Galopin — the  dam  of  Orme 
— Mr.  Taylor  Sharp  bred  Blue  Green,  a  very  beautiful  horse 
of  extreme  quality,  who  is  quickly  proving  himself  a  stud 
success.  In  his  running  days  Blue  Green  was  not  quite  at 
the  top  of  the  tree,  and  although  he  was  a  very  consistent 
performer  he  often  found  something  just  a  little  better  than 
himself.  Thus  he  was  third  for  the  Two  Thousand,  second 
to  Memoir  in  the  Newmarket  Stakes,  and  second  again  to 
the  same  mare  in  the  St.  Leger.  He  was  possessed  of  the 
family  stamina,  and  though  beaten  a  neck  by  Martagon  for 
the  Goodwood  Cup,  he  succeeded  in  carrying  off  the 
Alexandra  Plate  at  Ascot,  as  Rosicrucian,  of  the  same 
descent,  had  done. 

That  this  line  of  Tramp  should  be  encouraged  I  feel  sure, 
for  it  is  quite  certain  that  stamina  is  the  rule  and  not  the 
exception  in  a  majority  of  its  members,  whereas,  in  several 
of  the  better -known  and  more  prolific  branches  of  the 
Eclipse  family,  stoutness  varies  very  much.  In  other  words, 
it  is  reasonable  odds  on  any  tail  male  descendant  of 
Beadsman  or  Weatherbit  being  a  stayer,  while  nowadays 
the  odds  are  certainly  the  other  way  in  several  branches 
of  the  Birdcatcher  and  Touchstone  lines. 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  309 

THE   LINE   OF   BLACKLOCK 

Having  dealt  with  the  Sir  Hercules  and  Camel  lines,  from 
which  the  Birdcatcher  and  Touchstone  families  are  de- 
scended, I  now  have  to  trace  the  line  from  Eclipse 
to  St.  Simon  and  his  sons,  so  important  to  the  present 
generation.  This  particular  branch  of  the  family  is  gener- 
ally known  as  the  line  of  Blacklock,  and  from  father  to 
son  it  runs  as  follows : — 

Eclipse 

King  Fergus 

Hambletonian 

Whitelock 

Blacklock 

Voltaire 

Voltigeur 

Vedette 

Galopin 

St  Simon 

Persimmon. 

At  the  present  time  this  is  probably  the  best  staying 
family  of  the  day,  its  greatest  rival  in  point  of  stamina 
being  the  Isonomy  line  of  Birdcatcher,  though,  curiously 
enough,  Sterling,  the  sire  of  Isonomy,  was  only  a  miler. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  eleven  horses  in  direct  sire  line  from 
Eclipse  to  Persimmon  inclusive  were  all  stayers  ;  and  it  must 
be  remembered  that  at  present  w,e  are  dealing  with  sires 
only,  the  mare  influence  not  being  taken  into  consideration. 
With  a  proportionate  number  of  exceptions  the  broad  fact 
remains  that  certain  lines  of  blood,  and  certain  sires  in 
those  lines,  are  responsible  for  a  greater  proportion  of 
stayers  than  other  lines ;  and,  taking  matters  as  they  are 
to-day,  the  line  of  Blacklock  and  the  Isonomy  branch  of 
the  Birdcatcher  family  produce  more  stayers  than  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Stockwell  branch  of  Birdcatcher,  or  in  any 
of  the  Touchstone  families.  Taking  one  of  the  exceptions, 
no  better  stayer  has  been  seen  in  the  last  decade  than  Sheen, 
of  the  Newminster  line  of  Touchstone,  but  stamina  is  more 


310  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

general  in  horses  of  direct  Blacklock  descent  than  in  those 
of  direct  Newminster  descent. 

King  Fergus  was  a  greater  success  at  the  stud  than  he 
was  on  the  racecourse,  and  he  is  described  as  having  been 
a  very  handsome  chestnut  horse  of  16  hands,  with  immense 
bone,  and  free  from  blemish  of  any  kind.  He  was  foaled 
in  1775,  and  was  in  training  until  1781,  but  he  won  only 
eight  races  in  four  years,  and  was  then  sold  to  Ireland, 
where  he  stood  for  two  or  three  seasons.  This  early  part 
of  his  stud  career  was  evidently  a  failure,  for  he  was  put 
into  training  again  when  nine  years  old,  and  was  second 
for  a  Lord  Lieutenant's  Plate  at  the  Curragh  in  1784.  A 
year  later  he  was  back  in  England,  and  stood  for  a  season 
at  some  livery  stables  near  Park  Lane.  He  was  next  sent 
to  Catterick,  in  Yorkshire,  and  from  thence  to  Shipton,  near 
York,  where  he  sired  Hambletonian,  Beningborough,  and 
others.  Afterwards  he  stood  at  Maidenhead,  Egham,  Turn- 
ford  in  Herts,  and  at  Gogmagog  in  Cambridgeshire,  finally 
ending  his  days  near  Boroughbridge,  in  Yorkshire.  On  the 
whole  his  stud  career  was  very  successful,  as  one  hundred 
and  nine  of  his  stock  won  over  £30,000,  to  say  nothing  of 
several  cups,  which  in  those  days  were  more  often  the  prize 
contended  for  than  is  nowadays  the  custom.  Where  the 
option  is  presented,  specie  is  preferred  to  the  trophy  in  these 
practical  times. 

Hambletonian  will  always  be  remembered  as  the  hero  of 
the  famous  3,ooo-guinea  match  at  Newmarket  in  1799.  The 
famous  son  of  King  Fergus,  who  was  bred  in  Yorkshire, 
and  was  owned  by  Sir  Harry  Vane  Tempest,  was  a  bay 
horse,  and  without  doubt  the  best  performer  of  his  day. 
In  the  match  his  opponent  was  Diamond,  of  the  Herod 
line,  and  a  saying  of  the  day  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
Eclipses  were  speedy  and  jady,  and  the  Herods  hard  and 
stout.  This  theory  was  conclusively  dispelled  by  Hamble- 
tonian, who  won  the  match  by  "half  a  neck,"  after  a 
tremendous  struggle,  in  which  his  stamina  pulled  him 
through.  The  race  was  run  over  the  Beacon  Course  (4  miles 
138  yards),  and  it  is  recorded  that  the  time  was  only 
7  minutes  15  seconds.  Besides  this  match  Hambletonian 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  311 

won  the  St.  Leger  and  nineteen  other  races,  and  at  the 
stud  he  sired  one  hundred  and  forty-four  winners  of 
£38,100.  Amongst  these  was  Whitelock,  and  of  this 
connecting-link  in  the  pedigree  very  few  particulars  are 
forthcoming,  the  reason  being  that  the  horse  was  in  no 
way  celebrated,  except  through  his  son  Blacklock.  White- 
lock  was  a  bay  horse,  who  appears  to  have  run  but  twice, 
winning  a  Plate  of  £60  at  Knutsford  and  being  beaten  in 
the  decider  for  the  Cup,  at  the  same  place,  by  Duchess, 
with  whom  he  ran  a  dead-heat. 

Whitelock  spent  most  of  his  stud  career  as  a  country 
stallion,  but  a  few  thoroughbred  mares  were  put  to  him, 
amongst  others  an  unnamed  daughter  of  Coriander  and 
Wildgoose,  by  Highflyer,  and  the  result  of  this  alliance 
was  Blacklock,  foaled  in  1814.  Though  Whitelock  at  the 
time  of  his  being  mated  with  the  Coriander  mare  could 
not  have  been  a  stud  success,  there  seems,  at  first  glance, 
to  have  been  some  valid  reason  for  his  being  chosen  for  the 
mare,  as  both  sire  and  dam  were  inbred  to  Eclipse  and 
Herod — the  two  great  lines  of  the  day. 

In  the  pedigree  of  Blacklock,  Eclipse  appears  as  the  great- 
great-grandsire  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  and  both  White- 
lock  and  the  Coriander  mare  were  inbred  to  the  famous 
horse,  and  also  to  Herod,  of  whose  blood  there  are  also  two 
crosses  in  the  pedigrees  of  both  sire  and  dam.  Indeed,  the 
tabulated  pedigree  of  Blacklock  suggests  that  the  mating 
of  his  sire  and  dam  was  the  result  of  well-thought-out  study 
on  the  part  of  one  who  was  thoroughly  versed  in  the 
breeding  of  thoroughbreds,  and  who  appreciated  the  value 
of  inbreeding. 

On  the  other  hand,  tradition  tells  us  that  Mr.  F.  Moss, 
of  York,  the  breeder  of  Blacklock,  purchased  the  Coriander 
mare  for  £3,  and  as  Whitelock  was  standing  in  the  York 
neighbourhood  at  a  low  fee,  it  is  possible  that  the  selection 
was  purely  a  chance  one. 

Whether  this  was  the  case  or  not  we  have  no  means 
of  ascertaining,  but  it  seems  curious  that  this  great  line  of 
horses,  and  all  the  wonderful  St.  Simon-Galopin  family, 
which  has  practically  carried  all  before  it  of  late  years, 


312  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

should  be  the  result  of  a  £$  venture  in  blood  stock  on  the 
part  of  a  citizen  of  York  nearly  ninety  years  ago. 

Blacklock  was  a  bay — rather  a  dark  bay — with  black 
points,  and  a  very  big  horse,  and  it  is  said  that  his  fetlocks 
and  pasterns  formed  an  almost  straight  line.  Some  of  the 
Yorkshire  folks  swore  by  him  as  the  best  they  had  ever  seen, 
but  others  would  have  none  of  him,  naming  him  the  "  Bishop 
Burton  monstrosity."  "  The  Druid,"  who  can  have  written  of 
him  from  hearsay  evidence  only,  describes  him  as  follows : — 

"  He  was  a  great  black-brown,  with  a  stride  which  required  half 
a  mile  to  settle  itself  in,  a  head  like  a  half  moon,  with  eyes  quite 
in  his  cheeks,  and  quarters  and  shoulders  as  fine  as  horse  could 
wear.  Perhaps  to  the  eye  he  might  be  rather  light  in  the  foreribs, 
though  the  tape  told  a  different  tale,  and  the  hocks  of  his  stock 
generally  stood  well  away  from  them,  a  formation  which  requires 
great  strength  in  the  loins  to  support.  The  hunting  field  was  quite 
as  much  their  sphere  as  the  racecourse.  The  Cambridgeshire  men 
still  remember  how  well  John  Ward  got  to  his  hounds  for  seven 
seasons  on  Forester,  and  there  must  have  been  nearly  a  thousand 
of  his  grandsons,  by  the  hollow-backed  Belzoni,  one  time  or 
another,  at  the  covert  side.  Mr.  Watt  gave  forty  pounds  for  him 
as  a  two-year-old,  and  after  his  great  racing  career  he  broke 
through  his  rule,  and  kept  him  for  the  stud.  The  result  was  not 
encouraging,  as  his  legs  frightened  breeders  away;  but  Mr.  Kirby 
took  him  for  a  season  at  a  hundred,  and  cleared  eight  hundred 
per  cent,  by  his  bargain.  Mr.  Watt  had  him  back  for  three  seasons, 
and  was  beginning  a  fourth  with  him  when  he  died." 

Six  years  after  his  death  Blacklock's  remains  were  taken 
up,  and  the  bones  put  together  by  an  anatomist,  and  "  The 
Druid  "  tells  us  that  Mr.  Watt  paid  £10  for  a  skeleton  rider, 
who  "  yapped  "  his  teeth  when  a  string  was  pulled,  and  that 
the  spectral  pair  were  exhibited  at  an  agricultural  meeting 
at  Beverley. 

Mr.  Joseph  Osborne  writes  of  Blacklock  as  "perhaps  the 
grandest  horse  that  ever  was  foaled,  barring  his  riddle 
head  " ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  horse  had  an  exceed- 
ingly clumsy  head  and  a  tremendous  crest  as  well.  Indeed, 
the  "Blacklock  crest"  was  a  household  word  amongst 
breeders  for  many  years ;  but  fiddle  head  and  heavy  crest 
have  almost  disappeared  now  from  the  line,  and  some  of  the 
more  recent  representatives  of  it  have  particularly  sweet 


LINES   OF  BLOOD  313 

heads,  quite  of  the  Arabian  type.  The  crest  has  toned 
down ;  but  the  necks  of  Blacklock's  descendants  of  the 
present  day  are  for  the  most  part  strong  and  slightly 
arched,  and  at  the  moment  I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  ewe- 
necked  horse  of  this  breed. 

Blacklock,  who  was  not  trained  at  two  years  old,  lost  the 
St.  Leger  by  a  neck  to  Ebor,  but  according  to  all  the 
accounts  of  the  race  he  was  shut  in  at  the  Intake  turn, 
and  would  certainly  have  won  had  he  secured  a  clear  course. 
He  had  a  very  distinguished  turf  career,  and  at  the  stud 
he  sired  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  winners  who  won 
over  £45,000  in  stakes.  Amongst  his  successful  progeny 
was  Voltaire,  who,  like  Blacklock,  was  a  high-class  racehorse 
and  a  successful  stallion.  Following  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
sire,  he  too  was  second  for  the  St.  Leger,  but  he  won  many 
races  and  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Duke  of  Cleveland 
for  £2,000.  He  was  a  dark  bay  and  is  described  as  having 
been  rather  "  peacocky,"  but  with  a  remarkably  fine  barrel. 
From  Martha  Lynn  by  Mulatto  he  sired  Voltigeur  in  1847; 
and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  this  horse  as  a  yearling 
failed  to  reach  a  £100  reserve  at  the  Doncaster  sales. 

Voltigeur  was  a  dark  brown,  somewhat  heavy-necked  and 
heavy-fleshed,  was  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  of  Hart,  in 
the  county  of  Durham,  and  though  of  direct  Eclipse 
descent,  he  had  twenty-three  strains  of  Herod  blood  against 
fifteen  of  his  direct  paternal  ancestor.  What  appears  to 
be  a  faithful  description  of  Voltigeur  was  written  at  the 
time,  as  follows  : — 

"Voltigeur,  a  brown  horse,  with  no  white  about  him,  beyond 
a  little  on  the  off  hind  foot,  stands  fifteen  hands  three  inches  high. 
He  has  a  somewhat  coarse  head,  small  ears,  strong  muscular  neck, 
and  fine  oblique  shoulders,  with  very  good  depth  of  girth ;  he  has 
rather  a  light  middle,  but  good  back,  powerful  quarters,  drooping 
towards  the  tatf,  muscular  thighs,  and  good  hocks  and  knees,  with 
plenty  of  bone;  docile,  quiet  temper,  and  excellent  action." 

The  object  of  the  italics  will  shortly  appear. 

This  description  is  reproduced  because  it  embodies  a 
distinctive  characteristic  of  a  certain  family  of  the  line  of 
Blacklock  at  the  present  day,  and  about  which  characteristic 
there  has  been  at  times  much  argument  but  no  satisfactory 


314  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

conclusion.  To  all  my  readers  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
general  appearance  of  the  sons  and  daughters — especially  the 
daughters — of  St.  Simon,  it  will  be  no  news  that  a  majority 
of  them  have  quarters  which  droop  towards  the  tail.  The 
fillies  especially  have  this  peculiarity,  and  it  is  by  no  means 
uncommon  with  the  colts.  La  Fleche,  Amiable,  Utica,  and 
Goletta  (by  Galopin,  the  sire  of  St.  Simon)  may  be  quoted 
as  examples  of  the  drooping -quarter  sort,  and  if  the  de- 
scription of  the  make  and  shape  of  Voltigeur  just  quoted  is 
correct,  as  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its  being,  then  the 
peculiarity  must  be  derived  from  Voltigeur.  At  the  same 
time  not  all  of  Voltigeur's  descendants  are  cast  in  the  same 
mould,  for  there  never  was  a  horse  with  grander  quarters 
than  Clorane,  and  his  are  of  the  square  rather  than  the 
drooping  type.  Clorane  is  directly  descended  from  Voltigeur, 
through  Castlereagh,  Speculum,  and  Vedette. 

After  his  sale-ring  failure  at  Doncaster  Voltigeur  was  sent 
back  to  Hart,  and  he  would  probably  have  been  cut  for  the 
hunting  field  had  not  a  neighbour  of  his  owner  persuaded 
the  late  Mr.  "  Billy "  Williamson  to  allow  him  to  be  sent  to 
Lord  Zetland's  stable  at  Richmond,  of  which  Mr.  Williamson 
was  then  the  manager.  Accordingly  he  was  lent  to  Mr. 
Williamson ;  but  as  he  cleaned  out  the  stable  twice  in 
private  trials  shortly  afterwards  he  passed  into  Lord  Zetland's 
hands  at  £1,500.  He  won  the  Derby  of  1850,  beating  the 
Guineas  winner,  Pitsford,  by  a  length,  and  he  followed  up 
the  form  by  winning  the  St.  Leger  three  months  later,  after 
first  running  a  dead-heat  with  Russborough. 

Two  days  afterwards  Voltigeur  was  pitted  against  The 
Flying  Dutchman — who  had  won  the  Derby  of  the  previous 
year — in  the  Doncaster  Cup,  then  run  over  a  course  of  two 
miles  and  a  half — half  a  mile  further  than  the  present 
distance — and  to  general  surprise  he  upset  the  odds  of  4  to  i 
which  were  laid  on  Lord  Eglin ton's  horse.  It  was  a  close 
fit  between  the  pair,  and  the  result  gave  rise  to  much  con- 
troversy, it  being  asserted  that  Marlow  had  not  ridden  The 
Flying  Dutchman  to  orders  and  that  the  race  had  been  run 
at  a  false  pace.  The  outcome  was  that  the  pair  were 
matched  to  run  two  miles  at  York  in  the  following  summer, 


LINES  OF   BLOOD  315 

and  after  a  desperate  race  The  Flying  Dutchman  reversed 
the  Doncaster  verdict,  though  only  by  a  length  "all  out." 
This  match  was  run  in  deep  going,  and  Voltigeur  made 
strong  play  while  his  opponent  waited ;  nevertheless  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  Voltigeur  was  going  off  his  form  at  the 
time,  and  on  his  return  to  Aske  it  was  found  that  he  was 
collaterally  nearly  a  stone  below  his  Doncaster  form  of  the 
previous  autumn. 

At  the  stud  Voltigeur's  successes  were  in  no  wise  con- 
sistent with  his  racecourse  merit,  and  in  many  respects  he 
was  a  failure.  From  the  Birdcatcher  mare,  Mrs.  Ridgway 
(whose  grandam  was  by  Blacklock),  he  sired  Vedette,  and 
this  horse  in  time  gave  us  Galopin.  Vedette,  like  so  many 
of  his  ancestors,  was  bred  in  the  vicinity  of  Durham,  his 
breeder  being  the  late  Mr.  Chilton,  of  Billingham,  who  often 
had  a  useful  plater  with  old  John  Osborne,  father  of  the 
present  trainer  of  that  name.  Vedette  began  life  as  West 
Hartlepool — Billingham  is  not  many  miles  from  the  port  of 
that  name — and  he  is  described  as  having  been  a  very  ugly 
yearling,  with  a  great  coarse  head,  a  huge  barrel,  and  his 
hocks  a  long  way  behind  him.  In  due  course  he  went  to 
Aske  at  £250,  and  when  rheumatism  did  not  trouble  him 
he  went  like  a  steam-engine  and  could  stay  for  ever. 
Amongst  other  races  Vedette  won  the  Two  Thousand.  At 
the  stud  he  was  a  questionable  success.  His  son,  Galopin, 
was  bred  by  Mr.  Taylor  Sharpe  at  Baumber,  in  Leicester- 
shire, in  1872,  and  it  is  proper  to  here  refer  to  the  doubt  that 
at  one  time  was  cast  on  Galopin's  parentage,  it  having  been 
alleged  that  the  colt  was  got  by  Delight  and  not  by  Vedette. 
The  mind  of  Mr.  Taylor  Sharpe,  who  should  be  heard  before 
anybody,  is,  however,  clear  enough  on  the  point,  and  I  have 
already  stated  that  a  peculiarity  in  the  conformation  of 
Voltigeur  has  been  much  reproduced  in  the  stock  of  Galopin 
and  St.  Simon. 

Galopin,  in  his  running  days,  was  a  dark  brown,  and 
measured  a  fraction  under  sixteen  hands.  He  was  well  knit 
together,  round-barrelled,  and  rather  heavy  in  his  crest.  His 
quarters  were  very  powerful,  slightly  sloping,  and  his  tail  set 
on  somewhat  low.  He  was  a  combination  of  power  with 


316  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

extreme  quality,  and  in  my  opinion  he  showed  in  his  con- 
formation much  more  of  the  Arab  type  than  is  usually  found 
in  English  racehorses.  His  dam  was  The  Flying  Duchess  by 
The  Flying  Dutchman  out  of  Merope  by  Voltaire ;  thus  the 
horse  was  inbred  to  Blacklock.  He  had  not  the  same  quiet 
manners  which  were  attributes  of  many  of  his  ancestors,  he 
being  on  the  contrary  a  somewhat  irritable  horse.  This 
irritability  has  been  inherited  by  some,  but  by  no  means  by  all 
of  his  stock ;  and  whilst  Galloping  Dick  was  at  times  a  mad 
horse,  and  the  Two  Thousand  winner  Disraeli  a  very  curious- 
tempered  one,  the  St.  Simon  family  are  generally  possessed 
of  placid  tempers,  and  notably  Persimmon  had  perfect  race- 
course manners.  As  a  yearling  Galopin  cost  the  late  Prince 
Batthyany  but  500  guineas,  and  as  a  two-year-old  he  won 
five  of  the  six  races  for  which  he  started,  being  beaten  "  two 
heads  "  for  the  Middle  Park  Plate,  won  by  Plebian.  Galopin 
was  giving  the  winner  1 1  Ibs.,  and  would  probably  have  won 
had  he  not  been  knocked  about  a  good  deal  in  the  race.  In 
the  following  year  he  won  the  Derby,  but  he  was  not 
engaged  in  the  St.  Leger,  and  his  great  work  of  that  autumn 
was  his  defeat  of  Lowlander  in  a  £1,000  match  on  the 
Rowley  Mile.  He  also  beat  the  St.  Leger  winner,  Craig 
Millar,  in  a  canter  for  the  Newmarket  Derby,  and  in  the 
following  spring  was  sent  to  the  stud.  No  doubt  his  best 
son  was  St.  Simon,  though  Donovan  won  much  more  money 
in  stakes  during  his  turf  career.  Donovan,  though  just 
beaten  for  the  Guineas,  won  the  Derby  and  the  St.  Leger  of  his 
year,  and  in  his  so  far  short  stud  career  has  sired  Velasquez, 
winner  of  a  £10,000  stake  at  Newmarket  in  1897.  Not 
many  classic  winners  of  note  have  been  sired  by  Galopin 
except  Donovan,  but  Galliard  and  Disraeli  won  the  Two 
Thousand  Guineas,  Galeottia  the  One  Thousand  Guineas, 
and  Donovan  and  St.  Simon  were  good  enough  to  "  make " 
any  horse  from  the  paddock  point  of  view. 

Galopin  died  early  in  June,  1899,  aged  twenty-seven,  full  of 
stud  honours,  for  he  was  the  winning  sire  of  1898,  and  he  had 
completed  a  full  service  of  mares  for  the  benefit  of  posterity. 

St.  Simon  is  the  great  stud  success  of  modern  times,  and 
in  all  probability  if  he  lives  through  a  few  more  seasons 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  317 

he  will  stand  out  as  the  stallion  whose  actual  sons  and 
daughters  have  won  the  greatest  amount  of  stake  money. 
At  present  the  total  for  eleven  seasons  of  stud  life  is  something 
like  £2 50,000;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  a  present- 
day  stallion  of  the  best  class  has  a  far  better  chance  of 
making  a  good  score  than  had  such  as  Stockwell,  or  any 
of  the  older  horses,  whose  sons  and  daughters  competed 
for  far  less  valuable  prizes.  St.  Simon  came  on  the  scene 
very  shortly  after  the  institution  of  the  ten-thousand-pound 
prize,  and  such  as  La  Fleche,  Raeburn,  St.  Frusquin,  Per- 
simmon, and  Diamond  Jubilee  had  the  chance  of  winning  far 
more  money  than  had  any  of  the  get  of  Stockwell,  or  that 
of  his  contemporaries.  Great  as  St.  Simon's  success  has 
been,  I  still  hold  that  Stockwell's  title  of  "The  Emperor 
of  Stallions"  has  not  yet  been  taken  from  him,  but  if  the 
great  Welbeck  sire  has  a  few  more  good  years  he  will  no 
doubt  go  to  the  top  of  the  tree. 

St.  Simon  was  foaled  in  1881,  was  bred  by  the  late  Prince 
Batthyany,  and  is  by  Galopin  out  of  St.  Angela  by  King 
Tom,  her  dam  Adeline  by  Ion  out  of  Little  Fairy  by 
Hornsea,  out  of  Lacerta  by  Zodiac,  out  of  Jerboa  by 
Gohanna.  King  Tom  was  by  the  famous  Harkaway,  out 
of  the  equally  famous  Pocahontas.  Harkaway  was  famous 
as  a  long-distance  runner,  and  also  at  the  stud,  but  Poca- 
hontas was  chiefly  famous  as  a  brood  mare,  and  also  bred 
Stockwell  and  Rataplan  to  the  Baron.  The  pedigree  of 
Adeline,  the  dam  of  St.  Angela,  does  not  contain  so  many 
well-known  strains  that  are  in  favour  at  the  moment.  She 
was  by  Ion,  a  direct  descendant  in  tail  male  of  the  Byerly 
Turk ;  and  Hornsea,  the  sire  of  Little  Fairy,  was  by  the 
Blacklock  horse  Velocipede,  this  being  the  only  strain  of 
the  famous  Bishop  Burton  stallion  which  St.  Simon  inherits 
through  his  dam.  Galopin,  on  the  other  hand,  has  three 
crosses  of  Blacklock,  but  on  the  whole  St  Simon  is  rather 
an  outbred  horse  as  far  as  his  later  pedigree  is  concerned. 
In  appearance  St.  Simon  is  of  the  big  upstanding  sort ;  to 
my  eyes  he  was  rather  on  the  leg  when  in  training,  and 
a  similar  remark  applies  to  many  of  his  colts.  He  stands 
1 6  hands  i  inch,  girths  6  feet  6  inches,  and  measures  below 


318  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

the  knee  within  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  8J  inches.  He 
was  always  bigger  than  Galopin,  but  still  showed  many  of 
the  characteristics  of  his  sire,  though,  to  my  thinking,  he  had 
not  so  much  of  the  Arab  character.  In  galloping  his  action, 
for  such  a  big  horse,  was  singularly  perfect,  and  this  smooth- 
ness of  action  has  been  transmitted  to  a  large  majority  of 
his  stock.  Not  so  long  ago  I  heard  an  old  habitu£  of 
Newmarket,  when  talking  of  the  St.  Simon  family,  exclaim, 
"  They  are  not  perfect  horses,  these  St.  Simons,  but  they 
are  perfect  galloping  machines,  and  many  of  them  might 
have  been  constructed  on  mechanical  principles,  so  smoothly 
do  they  go."  To  me  this  was  a  splendid  definition,  for  it 
must  be  conceded  that  many  of  the  St.  Simon  breed  are 
not  built  on  what  are  considered  strictly  orthodox  lines, 
yet,  take  them  all  round,  they  are  quite  at  the  top  of  the 
tree,  and  can  beat  horses  which  are  better  looking  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term. 

To  sum  them  up  in  a  few  words,  many  of  the  best 
St.  Simons  are  high,  short  horses,  and  therefore  of  quite 
a  different  type  from  such  recent  Stockwell  Derby  winners 
as  Galtee  More  and  Sir  Hugo.  Necks  and  heads  carried 
high,  rather  short  shoulders,  short  strong  backs,  long 
drooping  quarters,  and  long  thighs  are  usually  to  be 
found,  but  the  colts  are  by  no  means  always  big  and  the 
fillies  are  generally  small.  Persimmon,  St.  Serf,  and  Bill 
of  Portland  (now  at  the  stud  in  Australia)  may  be  men- 
tioned as  specimens  of  the  upstanding  St.  Simon  colt,  and 
Simonian,  Raeburn,  and  St.  Frusquin  as  examples  of  the 
smaller  sort.  Up  to  the  present  time  Persimmon  and 
St.  Frusquin  have  been  St.  Simon's  best  male  runners, 
and  while  the  Prince  of  Wales'  horse  is  of  the  upstand- 
ing type  which  I  have  attempted  to  describe,  St.  Frusquin 
was  much  more  symmetrically  built,  and  I  should  guess 
nearly  a  hand  less  in  stature.  Raeburn  was  smaller  again, 
but  a  model  of  quality,  and  it  is  rather  curious  that  these 
smaller  St.  Simon  horses — i.e.  those  which  have  little  or  no 
suspicion  of  legginess— are  really  more  symmetrical  and 
better  looking  than  the  bigger  type.  With  the  St.  Simon 
fillies  the  same  rule  does  not  apply,  for  one  or  two  of  the 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  319 

best  were  very  common  to  look  at,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
some  of  the  best  looking  very  moderate  performers.  By 
far  the  handsomest  I  ever  saw  was  Signorina,  but  La  Fleche 
was  a  mean-looking  little  thing  when  in  training,  though 
she  grew  upon  one,  and  "pulled  to  pieces  well."  Another 
jumped-up  little  mare  was  Semolina,  and  neither  Mrs. 
Butterwick  nor  the  stringhalt  -  afflicted  Amiable  was  very 
grand,  but  all  had  the  gift  of  going,  and  in  our  time 
there  has  not  been  seen  elsewhere  such  a  series  of  de- 
scendants of  one  strain  with  such  beautiful  action. 

St.  Simon,  in  his  running  days,  was  quite  at  the  top  of 
the  tree,  but  owing  to  the  death  of  his  nominator,  Prince 
Batthyany,  he  had  no  chance  of  distinguishing  himself  in 
classic  events.  He  was  purchased  at  auction  for  the  Duke 
of  Portland  for  less  than  £2,000,  and  his  new  owner,  losing 
all  the  nominations,  had  to  make  fresh  engagements  for 
him.  The  upshot  was  that  he  commenced  active  life  at 
Goodwood  when  as  a  two-year-old  he  won  the  Halnaker 
Stakes,  and  beat  a  solitary  opponent  in  a  maiden  race  on 
the  following  afternoon.  He  next  ran  in  the  Devonshire 
Nursery  at  the  Derby  September  Meeting,  and  in  a  field 
of  twenty  won  very  easily  with  8  st.  12  Ibs.  in  the  saddle. 
In  the  following  week,  at  Doncaster,  he  was  pulled  out 
again  to  contest  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Nursery  of  a  mile. 
In  this  race,  for  which  twenty-two  ran,  he  put  up  9  St.,  giving 
away  a  stone  and  upwards  all  round.  Nevertheless  he  won 
with  a  lot  in  hand,  thus  showing  that  he  was  probably  the 
best  of  his  year.  He  won  once  again  as  a  two-year-old,  beat- 
ing Duke  of  Richmond  in  a  £500  match  at  Newmarket,  and 
retired  for  the  winter  with  an  unbeaten  certificate. 

His  first  appearance  as  a  three-year-old  was  in  a  Trial 
Stakes  at  Newmarket,  when  he  met  Tristan  (then  a  six- 
year-old  and  the  winner  of  the  Ascot  Cup  in  the  previous 
year)  at  weight  for  age.  St.  Simon  won  without  the  least 
difficulty,  and  this  thoroughly  proved — if  any  proof  was  still 
wanting — how  lucky  it  was  for  the  owners  of  St.  Gatien 
and  Harvester  that  St.  Simon  could  not  take  part  in  the 
Derby.  At  Epsom  he  was  allowed  to  walk  over  for  the 
Gold  Cup,  and  at  Ascot  he  again  beat  Tristan  in  the 


320  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

important  race  of  the  same  name  with  such  stayers  as 
Faugh-a-Ballagh  and  Friday  (a  Goodwood  Cup  winner) 
among  the  beaten  lot.  He  next  won  the  Gold  Cup  at 
Gosforth  Park,  and  then  he  took  the  Goodwood  Cup  in 
a  canter  by  twenty  lengths  from  Ossian,  winner  of  the 
St.  Leger  in  the  preceding  year.  He  never  ran  again,  but 
was  taken  out  of  training  perfectly  sound,  an  unbeaten 
horse ;  and  as  he  had  done  quite  enough  for  his  reputation 
this  decision  to  place  him  at  the  stud  as  a  four-year-old 
can  hardly  be  condemned.  He  had  run  ten  times  in  two 
seasons,  and  had  beaten  the  best  that  could  be  brought 
against  him  in  the  four  most  important  cup  contests  of  the 
year.  He  had  stayed  the  severe  two  miles  and  a  half  of  the 
Ascot  Cup  Course  in  a  fashion  which  is  only  occasionally 
seen,  and  he  had  no  engagements  for  the  following  year. 
Had  he  been  kept  in  training  he  could  only  have  repeated 
the  same  round  of  victories.  Moreover,  he  had  not  been  in 
the  least  abused,  and  by  not  running  after  Goodwood,  had 
six  months  in  which  to  recoup  himself  before  his  stud  life 
began.  Not  only  was  St.  Simon  an  unbeaten  horse,  but 
he  was  never  seriously  challenged  in  any  of  his  races.  In 
this  respect  he  has  an  advantage  over  another  unbeaten 
one,  Ormonde  to  wit.  It  can  be  urged  in  favour  of  the  last- 
named  that  his  lines  were  cast  in  rougher  places ;  in  other 
words,  that  St.  Simon  met  nothing  of  the  same  class  as 
Minting  and  The  Bard.  But  one  cannot  get  away  from 
the  fact  that  Tristan,  whom  he  twice  defeated,  was  a  really 
good  horse  over  all  sorts  of  courses,  as  was  proved  by  his 
winning  the  Hardwicke  Stakes  three  years  in  succession  ;  that 
in  one  of  these  years  he  had  won  the  Gold  Cup  on  the  pre- 
vious day,  and  that  a  year  later,  when  St.  Simon  beat  him  for 
the  Cup,  he  was  still  equal  to  tackling  and  beating  all  comers 
in  his  third  Hardwicke  Stakes  only  twenty-four  hours  later. 

Ormonde  won  the  classic  races  in  which  St.  Simon  was 
unable  to  compete,  but  St.  Simon's  greatest  victories  were 
achieved  over  a  distance  of  ground,  whereas  Ormonde  never 
attempted  a  longer  course  than  the  mile  and  three-quarters 
of  the  St.  Leger,  and  so  many  of  his  "might-have-been" 
opponents  were  not  sent  to  oppose  him.  In  the  Guineas 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  321 

he  asserted  his  three-year-old  superiority  to  Minting,  and 
thenceforward  that  horse  was  kept  out  of  his  way  until 
the  Hardwicke  Stakes  of  the  following  year.  On  that 
occasion  Ormonde  was  going  off,  but  nothing  was  wrong 
with  Minting.  Still,  the  Kingsclere  horse  won  by  a  neck,  and 
the  form  has  always  been  made  more  of  than  it  deserved, 
because  Bendigo  was  beaten  by  a  long  way  for  second  place. 
Bendigo,  however,  was  dead  amiss  on  the  occasion.  He  had 
been  off  his  feed  since  he  arrived  at  Ascot,  and  was  really 
in  no  condition  to  show  his  best  form.  This  statement 
is  made  on  the  authority  of  Jousiffe,  who  trained  Mr. 
Barclay's  horse,  and  who  not  very  long  afterwards  wrote 
me  a  long  letter  on  the  subject.  Whether  Ormonde  or 
St.  Simon  was  the  better  horse  is  a  question  that  cannot 
be  answered  and  is  purely  a  matter  for  guesswork.  Each 
won  every  time  he  ran  ;  and  if  I  have  always  in  my  mind 
had  a  preference  for  St.  Simon,  it  was  because  he  was  a 
great  Cup  horse  and  an  extraordinary  stayer. 

Curiously  enough,  the  best  of  St.  Simon's  early  stock 
were  fillies,  and  he  had  sired  three  winners  of  the  One 
Thousand,  four  winners  of  the  Oaks,  and  two  winners  of  the 
St.  Leger  (both  fillies)  before  he  had  given  us  a  winner  of 
the  Two  Thousand  or  Derby.  This  feat  he  accomplished  with 
St.  Frusquin  and  Persimmon  in  1896,  and  as  Persimmon  also 
won  the  St.  Leger,  and  Diamond  Jubilee  the  triple  crown  in 
1900,  when  Winifreda  and  La  Roche  won  the  One  Thousand 
and  Oaks  respectively,  St.  Simon  has  been  responsible  for  the 
winners  of  seventeen  classic  races  up  to  the  present  time. 
Memoir,  Signorina,  and  St.  Serf  were  the  first  to  bring  St 
Simon  into  high  repute  as  a  stallion,  and  the  last-named 
would  probably  have  won  the  Derby  had  he  not  been  kept 
for  the  Epsom  Grand  Prize  instead.  Under  any  circum- 
stances, he  was  a  better  horse  than  the  actual  winner,  Sainfoin, 
and  it  may  also  be  written  of  him  (St.  Serf)  that  he  was  the 
first  St.  Simon  horse  to  become  a  stud  success.  He  has 
already  sired  a  classic  winner,  who  credited  the  Prince  of 
Wales  with  the  One  Thousand  in  1896,  and  in  the  past  year 
he  held  a  high  place  in  the  list  of  winning  sires.  Already 
his  stock  have  won  £50,000  in  stakes,  and  the  horse  is  now 


322  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

only  thirteen  years  old.  Another  useful  colt  by  St.  Simon 
foaled  about  the  same  time  was  Simonian ;  and  Bill  of 
Portland,  though  a  roarer,  could  travel  at  a  tremendous  pace. 
Nevertheless  the  rather  unlucky  Signorina  and  La  Fleche 
were  far  the  best  of  his  stock  until  Persimmon  and  St. 
Frusquin  appeared,  and  then  after  a  couple  of  quieter 
years  he  had  in  1900  the  five  winners  of  the  classic  races 
of  which  I  have  just  made  mention.  Two  or  three  years 
ago  all  was  not  well  with  the  Welbeck  paddocks,  and 
the  stud  was  removed  while  certain  alterations  took  place. 
To  this  cause  is  generally  attributed  the  comparative 
failure  of  St.  Simon  in  1897  and  1898.  Even  if  St.  Simon 
has  seen  his  best  days  as  a  stud  horse,  there  are  Persimmon 
and  St.  Frusquin  to  carry  on  the  line,  to  say  nothing  of 
St.  Serf,  Raeburn,  and  that  fine  performer  Florizel  II., 
who  ran  up  a  splendid  record  of  victories  in  important 
races,  who  could  stay  as  well  as  his  more  famous  brother 
Persimmon,  and  who  in  190x3  had  a  wonderful  season  with 
his  first  crop  of  two-year-old  runners. 

In  Persimmon  the  Blacklock  blood  is  much  more  plentiful 
than  it  is  in  his  sire  St.  Simon,  for  his  dam,  Perdita  II.,  has 
five  strains  of  it.  The  Prince  of  Wales'  horse  has  yet  to 
prove  himself  at  the  stud,  but  it  is  any  reasonable  odds  on 
his  being  a  success,  for  perhaps  this  particular  line  of  Black- 
lock,  handed  down  through  Voltaire,  Voltigeur,  Vedette, 
Galopin,  and  St.  Simon,  is  more  full  of  vitality  and  more 
prolific  than  any  other  line  of  the  day.  As  something  has 
been  said  of  the  rival  merits  of  Ormonde  and  St.  Simon,  it 
may  be  added  that  there  are  those  who  consider  Persimmon 
to  have  been  quite  as  good  a  horse  as  either,  in  spite  of  his 
two  defeats.  I  need  not  enter  at  length  into  such  recent 
running  beyond  mentioning  that  both  of  those  defeats  were 
administered  by  St.  Frusquin,  and  all  the  running  of  the  pair 
suggests  that  there  was  nothing  between  these  two  up  to  a 
mile.  Both  were  very  successful  two-year-olds,  though  St. 
Frusquin  was  just  beaten  when  trying  to  give  a  lot  of  weight 
away  at  Kempton  Park.  In  the  Middle  Park  Plate  each 
carried  the  full  penalty,  and  Persimmon  started  favourite. 
Practically  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  finish,  which  was 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  323 

fought  out  by  St.  Frusquin  and  Omladina,  the  former 
winning  by  half  a  length.  Persimmon  was  beaten  some 
lengths  from  the  pair,  and  his  subsequent  running  suggested, 
nay  proved,  that  this  was  not  his  true  form.  The  stable 
cannot  have  entertained  the  idea  that  much  was  wrong,  or 
the  horse  would  hardly  have  started  favourite,  but  I  saw  for 
myself  that  he  could  not  live  with  the  other  pair  up  the  hill 
from  the  Abingdon  Mile  Bottom,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  no 
special  excuses  were  forthcoming  for  his  defeat,  though  there 
was  afterwards  a  general  rumour  to  the  effect  that  he  was 
amiss.  That  he  had  been  amiss  a  week  or  ten  days  before 
is  well  known,  otherwise  it  had  been  intended  that  he  should 
have  run  at  Kempton  Park  in  the  very  race  in  which  St. 
Frusquin  was  beaten  on  the  previous  Saturday,  and  I  have 
little  doubt  that  he  had  not  quite  recovered.  He  had  been 
heard  to  cough  when  at  exercise  in  the  Middle  Park  week, 
and  under  any  circumstances  the  running  in  the  Middle  Park 
Plate  may  be  wiped  out.  In  the  following  spring  St. 
Frusquin  won  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas,  but  Persimmon 
did  not  run  before  the  Derby.  In  that  race  he  beat  St. 
Frusquin  (who  was  of  course  favourite)  by  a  neck,  and,  what 
is  more,  he  had  always  a  ftttle  the  best  of  it  from  the  bell  to 
the  winning-post.  Not  an  hour  after  the  race  T.  Loates, 
who  rode  St.  Frusquin,  told  me  that  Persimmon  was  beating 
him  all  the  way  from  Tattenham  Corner,  and  that  he  never 
felt  as  if  he  could  do  better  than  make  a  good  fight  of  it. 
The  pair  met  again  in  the  Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes  at 
Newmarket,  over  the  Bunbury  Mile,  a  rather  severe  course 
with  a  steep  hill  just  before  the  finish.  Persimmon  this  time 
had  to  allow  3  Ibs.,  and  St.  Frusquin  beat  him  half  a  length. 
I  was  actually  on  the  course  (where  I  had  no  business  to  be) 
while  this  race  was  run,  and  I  have  always  thought  that  St. 
Frusquin's  victory  was  in  a  small  measure,  but  not  of  course 
entirely,  due  to  the  fact  that  Loates  got  first  run.  The  pair 
and  Regret  had  well  cleared  the  others  before  half  the  hill 
was  breasted,  and  when  the  leaders  were  about  1 50  yards 
from  home  and  both  jockeys  sitting  still,  Loates  suddenly 
pushed  his  horse  for  all  he  was  worth.  In  a  moment  St. 
Frusquin  got  the  half-length  he  won  by,  and  in  a  bitter  set-to 


324  THE  ENGLISH  TURF 

to  the  end  he  just  retained  that  same  advantage.  I  have 
seen  "  Tommy "  Loates  ride  many  and  many  a  good  race, 
both  before  and  since,  but  in  this  particular  one  he,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  excelled  himself.  I  have  never  witnessed 
a  finer  piece  of  riding. 

That  St.  Frusquin  went  amiss  after  winning  the  Eclipse 
Stakes,  but  before  the  St.  Leger,  is  common  knowledge. 
He  never  ran  again,  so  the  vexed  question  of  supremacy 
between  him  and  Persimmon  was  not  fairly  settled,  though 
Persimmon  of  course  comes  out  with  the  better  record. 
He  won  the  St.  Leger  and  other  races  as  a  three-year-old, 
and  in  the  Ascot  Cup  of  the  following  year  proved  himself 
a  stayer  of  the  first  water.  No  one,  I  should  say,  ever  saw 
an  Ascot  Cup  won  in  such  fashion.  Though  there  were 
only  four  runners,  the  other  three  were  horses  of  note,  all 
of  whom  had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  past.  Love 
Wisely,  for  instance,  had  beaten  the  French  horse  Omnium  II., 
Florizel  II.,  the  Derby  winner  Sir  Visto,  that  beautiful  and 
very  high-class  mare  Laodamia,  and  the  champion  mile  handi- 
cap horse  of  the  day,  Victor  Wild,  in  the  Ascot  Cup  of  the 
previous  year.  And  as  proof  that  this  good-looking  if 
rather  small  son  of  Wisdom  had  not  deteriorated,  he  three 
months  later  won  the  £10,000  Jockey  Club  Stakes  at 
Newmarket,  easily  defeating  Velasquez,  Chelandry,  Goletta, 
and  others.  Winkfield's  Pride,  another  of  the  three,  had  won 
the  Cambridgeshire  and  the  Lincolnshire  Handicap,  the 
last-named  race  with  8  st.  9  Ibs.  in  the  saddle,  and  Limasol, 
the  third  runner,  had  been  an  easy  winner  of  the  Oaks  a 
fortnight  before.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Persimmon  was 
opposed  by  a  field  that  was  good  in  quality  if  not  numeri- 
cally strong ;  but  the  big  horse  smashed  them  all  up  as 
if  they  had  been  selling  platers,  and  won  just  as  far  as 
Watts  allowed  him  to  do.  From  the  commencement  the 
race  was  run  at  a  cracking  pace,  and  down  the  hill  into 
the  Swinley  Bottom  Winkfield's  Pride  fairly  got  the  better 
of  Cannon,  and  travelled  on  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry 
him.  All  this  time  Persimmon  waited  behind,  but  the 
moment  the  straight  was  reached  he  came  right  round  on 
the  outside  and  galloped  past  his  opponents  as  if  they 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  325 

were  a  line  of  telegraph  posts.  No  finer  performance  has 
been  seen  during  the  present  generation,  and  well  might 
"Beacon"  (Mr.  Joseph  Osborne)  write  in  the  next  issue 
of  his  Horscbreeders*  Handbook,  of  this  Ascot  Cup,  that 
Persimmon  "  won  so  easily  by  eight  lengths  from  Winkfield's 
Pride,  Love  Wisely,  and  Limasol,  that  he  may  fairly  claim 
to  be  the  horse  of  the  century,  if  we  except  Harkaway ;  for 
great  horse  as  Ormonde  undoubtedly  was,  he  never  ran  a  Cup 
Course — and  it  may  be  questioned  if  at  any  time  he  beat 
such  good  horses  as  Winkfield's  Pride  and  Love  Wisely." 

Mr.  Osborne  has  seen  all  the  good  horses  of  the  last 
sixty-five  years:  he  has  made  the  thoroughbred  the  study 
of  a  lifetime,  and  there  is  absolutely  no  living  authority 
to  whose  utterances  so  much  importance  attaches.  There 
is  no  need  to  consider  Persimmon  much  further.  Some  few 
weeks  after  his  Ascot  Cup  victory  he  won  the  Eclipse 
Stakes  on  a  totally  different  course,  of  only  half  the  Ascot 
Cup  distance,  and  this  race  showed  that  he  could  sprint 
as  well  as  stay.  In  years  to  come  it  will  probably  be  found 
that  Persimmon,  St.  Simon,  and  very  likely  Isinglass  will 
take  higher  rank  than  the  brilliant  Ormonde,  but  which  (if 
any)  of  the  four  should  rank  as  "  the  horse  of  the  century " 
is  a  question  which  must  be  left  to  individual  opinion. 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  if  I  were  to  go  into 
every  branch  of  each  line  of  blood  at  any  length,  and 
try  to  show  all  the  successful  strains  which  are  now  in 
existence,  I  should  require  several  years  for  the  task,  and 
a  series  of  volumes  would  be  the  result.  The  object  being 
to  trace  a  few  of  the  reigning  branches  of  each  line  of 
descent,  I  may  now  leave  St.  Simon  without  noticing  the 
doings  of  such  as  Childwick,  Matchbox,  St.  Florian, 
Dunure,  Utica,  and  a  host  of  others. 

The  Blacklock  line  of  the  Darley  Arabian  has  also  been 
transmitted  through  Speculum,  who  was  by  Vedette  out 
of  Doralice  by  Orlando.  Speculum's  chief  stud  successes 
were  Rosebery — dual  winner  of  the  Caesarewitch  and  Cam- 
bridgeshire and  sire  of  Amphion — Castlereagh,  the  sire 
of  that  great  horse  Clorane,  and  Hagioscope,  the  sire  of 
Queen's  Birthday  and  of  many  others  who  could  stay  the 


326  THE  ENGLISH   TURF 

severest  courses.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  at  length 
into  details  of  this  particular  branch  of  the  family,  but 
it  should  be  emphasised  that  the  Galopin  -  St.  Simon 
characteristics  of  appearance,  and  occasionally  of  temper, 
are  entirely  wanting  in  the  horses  of  Speculum  descent. 
To  take  two  recent  examples,  Clorane  filled  the  eye  as 
a  far  grander  horse  than  anything  we  have  ever  seen  by 
Galopin  or  St.  Simon.  He  was  no  bigger  than  Persimmon 
— not  so  big  in  fact — in  the  matter  of  inches,  but  he  carried 
more  substance  and  was  much  more  symmetrically  built, 
standing  over  more  ground,  with  nothing  of  the  "  short, 
high"  style  about  him.  Clorane  is  absolutely  one  of  the 
handsomest  of  modern  thoroughbreds,  and  formed  a  perfect 
picture  when  in  training.  At  the  same  time  he  always 
looked  more  like  a  Stockwell  than  a  Blacklock  horse,  and 
so,  too,  did  Amphion,  another  beautiful  horse,  whose  dam 
was  by  Hermit  out  of  a  Rataplan  mare.  Again,  Amphion's 
son,  Dieudonne",  is  a  perfect  little  gentleman  to  look  at, 
though  he  has  just  a  slight  suspicion  of  weakness  about 
his  neck.  Perhaps  the  Hagioscopes  (at  all  events  some 
of  them)  are  more  of  the  usual  Blacklock  type,  but  most 
certainly  a  majority  of  the  horses  in  direct  tail  male  from 
Speculum  are  not,  and  this  is  probably  caused  by  the  fact 
that  Galopin  was  more  inbred  to  Blacklock  than  was  the 
case  with  Speculum,  the  latter  having  been  out  of  a  Touch- 
stone mare,  while  Galopin's  maternal  grandam  was  by 
Voltaire,  who  was  also  the  grandsire  of  Vedette. 

Another  line  of  the  Barley  Arabian,  of  which  little  is 
heard  in  direct  continuity  just  now,  came  through  Whisker, 
Harkaway,  and  King  Tom.  Taking  them  from  Eclipse 
downwards,  the  sires  were — 

Eclipse 

Pot-8-os 

Waxy 

Whisker 

Economist 

Harkaway 

King  Tom 

Kingcraft. 


LINES   OF  BLOOD  327 

The  last-named  won  the  Derby  in  1870,  and  about 
the  same  time  King  Tom  had  three  Oaks  winners  — 
Tormenter,  Hippia,  and  Hannah.  The  family  is  now 
little  known  in  this  country,  though  it  has  done  well  both 
in  Australia  and  America,  and  from  the  last  -  named 
country  it  sent  a  fine  representative  in  Foxhall  a  few 
years  ago. 

THE   LINE   OF   BYERLY  TURK 

Besides  the  line  of  the  Darley  Arabian,  handed  down 
through  Eclipse  and  his  sons,  there  are  two  other  male  lines 
of  blood  derived  from  Eastern  sires  which  are  to  the  fore  at 
the  present  day  —  though  in  a  lesser  degree  than  that  of  the 
Darley  Arabian.  These  are  the  line  of  the  Byerly  Turk, 
handed  down  through  Herod,  and  the  line  of  the  Godolphin 
Barb  transmitted  through  Matchem. 

The  line  of  sires  from  the  Byerly  Turk  is  as  follows  — 

Byerly  Turk 


Partner 

Tartar 

Herod. 

The  pedigree  of  Herod  is  very  incomplete.  He  was  bred  in 
1758  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  was  by  Tartar  out  of 
Cypron  by  Blaze,  who  was  by  Flying  Childers,  and  therefore 
a  grandson  of  the  Darley  Arabian.  Tartar  was  out  of 
Milwea  by  Fox,  a  great-grandson  of  the  D'Arcy  White 
Turk,  but  Milwea's  dam,  Milkmaid,  was  bred  from  parents 
about  whom  little  or  nothing  is  known.  Her  sire  was  Snail 
(pedigree  unknown)  and  her  dam  was  Shield's  Galloway 
(bred  by  Mr.  Curwen,  of  Workington,  Cumberland),  about 
whose  ancestry  no  information  is  forthcoming.  There  are 
several  unknown  sources  in  Partner's  pedigree,  and  several 
more  in  that  of  Cypron,  so  that  really  it  is  not  possible  to 
trace  Herod  even  so  far  as  Eclipse  is  traced,  but  the  horse 
was  a  good  runner,  a  great  stayer,  and  a  most  successful  sire, 
his  stock  having  won  over  £200,000  in  nineteen  years.  From 
Herod  came  the  famous  Highflyer,  who  was  never  beaten, 


328 


THE   ENGLISH   TURF 


and  his  best  son  was  Sir  Peter.     Here  the  family  splits  up 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  tables : — 

Herod 

Woodpecker 

Buzzard 

Selim 

Sultan 

Bay  Middleton 

Flying  Dutchman 

Upas 

Elf  1 1. 


Herod 

Herod 

Herod 

Highflyer 
Sir  Peter 

Highflyer 
Sir  Peter 

Woodpecker 
Buzzard 

Walton 

Sir  Paul 

Castrel 

Partisan 

Paulowitz 

Pantaloon 

Gladiator 

Cain 

Windhound 

Sweetmeat 
Macaroni 
McGregor 

Ion 
Wild  Dayrell 
Buccaneer 
Kisber 

Thormanby 
Charibert 

Crafton 

These  four  are  the  principal  lines  of  Herod,  but  only  the 
Buccaneer  branch  seems  to  be  doing  much  good  in  this 
country  just  now.  It  also  includes  the  See  Saw  family,  best 
represented  at  present  by  Despair,  the  sire  of  the  Cambridge- 
shire winner  Comfrey,  and  hosts  of  lesser  exponents  of 
winning  form.  From  the  Sweetmeat  family  came  also 
Cremorne  and  Favonius,  winners  of  the  Derby  in  successive 
years,  but  at  the  moment  the  line  looks  like  dying  out,  there 
being  only  such  as  Poulet,  Mark,  Macaroon,  and  Favo  to 
represent  it.  Of  course  Kisber,  by  Buccaneer,  was  a  very 
great  horse,  and  during  the  third  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century  there  were  many  celebrated  descendants  of  Herod 
in  tail  male,  but  at  present  it  looks  as  if  all  the  best  blood  of 
the  family  were  centred  in  the  females,  and  notably  Seclusion, 
the  dam  of  Hermit,  was  of  direct  Herod  descent.  At  the 
stud  The  Flying  Dutchman  was  not  a  success,  in  spite  of  his 
great  deeds  when  in  training,  but  we  had  ample  proof  in 
1898  that  his  line  is  not  dead  yet,  when  the  French  horse 
Elf  II.  beat  all  our  best  long-distance  runners  in  the  Ascot 
Cup.  Elf  II.  (Elf  he  was  called  in  France,  the  numerals 
being  added  when  he  ran  in  England)  was  sold  for  .£8,000 
for  stud  purposes,  and  it  may  be  that  he  will  do  something 
to  revive  the  line. 

There  are  several  useful  sires  by  See  Saw  in  this  country, 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  329 

but  Despair  seems  to  sire  milers  and  sprinters  rather  than 
stayers ;  yet  the  Herod  line  was  once  famous  for  its  stout- 
ness. Macaroni  has  left  no  really  good  representative  of 
the  Sweetmeat  blood.  His  best  son,  McGregor,  was  doubt- 
less a  very  good  horse  on  the  day  he  won  the  Two  Thousand 
Guineas,  and  there  is  little  question  that  he  would  have  won 
the  Derby  had  he  not  broken  down ;  but  as  a  stallion, 
though  he  got  a  host  of  small  winners,  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  sired  a  good  stud  horse.  Ocean  Wave,  the  sire 
of  Trident,  is  also  by  See  Saw,  and  this  horse  has  got 
good  stock,  several  of  whom  can  stay  well,  to  wit  Billow, 
who  won  the  Ascot  Stakes  a  few  years  ago.  From  Wild 
Dayrell  is  also  descended  Pepper  and  Salt,  the  sire  of  the 
City  and  Suburban  winner  Greyleg  ;  and  from  Sir  Bevys, 
of  the  Sweetmeat  line,  we  have  Morglay,  who  has  had  a 
fair  share  of  winners  of  late.  During  the  last  twelve  months 
no  sire  of  direct  Herod  descent  stood  in  the  first  twelve 
in  the  list,  but  Ocean  Wave  and  Despair  have  done  fair 
work  at  the  stud,  though  neither  of  them  has  sired  a  first- 
class  horse. 

An  important  thing  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  when  any 
line  of  blood  begins  to  do  badly,  a  large  majority  of 
breeders  neglect  it  altogether.  Fashion  seems  to  be  almost 
everything  in  breeding;  and  as  the  line  of  the  Darley 
Arabian  has  so  thoroughly  beaten  that  of  the  Byerly  Turk, 
everyone  seems  inclined  to  help  the  latter  to  oblivion,  in- 
stead of  trying  to  improve  it  by  judicious  crosses.  That  the 
Herod  family  was  famous  for  stoutness  in  its  early  days 
must  be  true,  if  the  traditions  of  the  turf  are  to  be  believed, 
and  it  is  probably  the  case  that  that  same  stoutness  is  only 
lying  dormant.  However,  unless  some  great  horse  of 
Herod  descent  quickly  makes  his  appearance,  breeders  will 
continue  to  neglect  the  family ;  for  breeders  must  be  in 
the  fashion  to  live,  and  Herod  blood  is  not  the  fashion 
just  now.  Yet,  within  my  experience,  I  have  seen  four 
Derby  winners  who  were  direct  descendants  of  Herod  in 
tail  male,  and  these  four  successes  were  encompassed  within 
a  period  of  nine  years.  The  winners  were  Favonius, 
Cremorne,  Kisber,  and  Sir  Bevys;  and,  if  the  last-named 


330  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

has  to  be  put  down  a  moderate  horse,  Kisber  was  one  of 
the  best  Derby  winners  of  modern  times,  whilst  Cremorne 
was  also  an  Ascot  Cup  winner. 

THE   LINE   OF   THE   GODOLPHIN 

The  line  of  the  Godolphin  Barb,  commonly  known  as 
the  line  of  Matchem,  is  doing  far  better  than  that  of  the 
Byerly  Turk.  It  is  nowhere  when  compared  with  the 
Darley  Arabian  family;  still,  it  is  strongly  represented  at 
the  moment ;  and  if  present  indications  are  realised,  it  will 
be  even  more  powerful  in  years  to  come.  And  this  is 
almost  entirely  due  to  the  resuscitated  family  of  Melbourne, 
chiefly  through  his  son  West  Australian. 

Matchem  was  foaled  in  1748,  near  Carlisle,  and  was  by 
Cadet,  a  son  of  the  Godolphin  Barb  (or  Godolphin  Arabian, 
as  he  is  sometimes  called),  and  was  out  of  a  daughter  of 
Partner  (grandson  of  the  Byerly  Turk),  her  dam  a  daughter 
of  Makeless,  out  of  a  daughter  of  Brimmer,  out  of  a 
daughter  of  Place's  White  Turk.  The  Godolphin  is  the 
horse  who  was  bought  out  of  a  water-cart  in  Paris  by  a 
Mr.  Coke,  of  Norfolk,  and  he  was  subsequently  presented 
to  Lord  Godolphin,  by  whose  name  he  has  always  been 
known.  He  was  a  brown  bay,  stood  about  fifteen  hands, 
and  his  name  is  to  be  found  in  the  pedigree  of  every 
thoroughbred  in  existence,  if  it  is  traced  far  enough  back. 
In  Matchem  there  was  none  of  the  blood  of  the  Darley 
Arabian,  but  the  pedigree  can  be  traced  to  nearly  twenty 
Eastern  importations,  and  there  are  fewer  blanks  in  it  than 
in  the  pedigrees  of  Herod  or  Eclipse.  Matchem  was  a  famous 
runner  in  his  day,  but  he  went  to  the  stud  at  a  £5  fee, 
and  this  was  gradually  raised  to  fifty  guineas  as  his  stock 
began  to  win  races.  In  all  they  secured  £1 51,000  in 
twenty-three  years,  and  the  best  of  them  was  Conductor, 
who,  when  mated  with  Brunette,  sired  Trumpator,  from 
whom  came  Sorcerer,  Comus,  Humphrey  Clinker,  and 
Melbourne.  Melbourne  was  bred  in  1834,  and  was  out 
of  a  mare  by  Cervantes,  of  the  line  of  Eclipse,  her  dam 
being  a  daughter  of  Golumpus,  also  of  the  direct  line  of 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  331 

Eclipse.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  Sorcerer,  the  great- 
grandsire  of  Melbourne,  though  only  fifth  in  descent  from 
the  Godolphin,  was  closely  inbred  to  that  celebrity,  as  he 
had  a  double  cross  through  Trumpator,  and  no  less  than 
four  crosses  through  his  great-grandam,  Young  Giantess. 
Indeed,  Melbourne  was  full  of  the  blood,  and,  all  told,  no 
fewer  than  thirty-seven  strains  of  the  Godolphin  are  to  be 
found  in  his  pedigree.  He  is  described  as  having  been  a 
i6-hand  horse  of  immense  power,  with  a  neat  head,  a 
rather  short,  thin-crested  neck,  and  of  great  length  from 
his  shoulder-point  to  his  hips.  He  was  also  knuckle-kneed 
from  foalhood ;  but  this  malformation  seems  to  have  done 
him  little  harm,  for  he  won  a  number  of  races,  mostly  over 
distances  of  ground.  He  did  not  aspire  to  classic  honours, 
but  he  held  his  own  among  the  Cup  horses  of  the  day, 
and  at  some  time  or  other  he  beat  such  as  Lanercost  and 
Industry.  He  was  altogether  a  successful  sire,  and  amongst 
his  produce  were  Blink  Bonny  (one  of  three  fillies  who 
have  won  the  Derby),  Sir  Tatton  Sykes  (winner  of  the 
St.  Leger),  West  Australian,  and  Young  Melbourne,  from 
whom  that  good  stayer  Carlton  was  descended.  The  line 
in  tail  male  from  the  Godolphin  Arabian  is  as  follows : — 

Godolphin  Arabian  or  Barb 

Matchem 

Conductor 

Trumpator 

Sorcerer 

Comus 

Humphrey  Clinker 

Melbourne 

West  Australian 

Solon 

Barcaldine. 

West  Australian  was  doubtless  the  greatest  racehorse 
sired  by  Melbourne,  and  perhaps  no  horse  of  a  past  genera- 
tion was  more  talked  about  or  more  popular  with  the 
"  crowd."  It  used  to  be  the  fashion  for  Yorkshire  folk  to 


332  THE   ENGLISH   TURF 

swear  by  him,  and  when  he  was  brought  into  a  sale  ring 
after  his  racing  career  was  over  he  was  saluted  with  a  shout 
of  "  Here  comes  the  pick  of  all  England."  He  was  bred 
by  the  late  Mr.  John  Bowes  at  Streatlam,  in  the  county 
of  Durham,  and  was  out  of  Mowerina  by  Touchstone, 
her  dam  Emma  by  Whisker  out  of  Gibside  Fairy  by 
Hermes — a  direct  descendant  of  Eclipse.  He  was  the  first 
horse  to  win  the  triple  crown  of  Two  Thousand,  Derby, 
and  St.  Leger,  but  he  was  not  a  great  stud  success,  and 
if  he  had  not  sired  Solon  little  would  be  known  of  his 
family  now.  Solon,  bred  in  County  Galway,  was  just  a 
fair-class  racehorse,  but  by  no  means  a  great  one.  He  had 
his  share  of  success  both  in  this  country  and  in  Ireland, 
but  at  the  stud  he  was  responsible  for  Barcaldine  and  also 
for  Arbitrator,  the  sire  of  the  St.  Leger  winner  Kilwarlin, 
and  the  grandsire  of  Kilcock.  Barcaldine  was  out  of 
Ballyroe  by  the  roaring  Belladrum  (by  Stockwell)  out  of 
Bon  Accord  by  Adventurer,  and  during  his  two  seasons 
on  the  turf  he  was  never  beaten.  His  best  performance 
is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  remarks  on  Gosforth 
Park  Races,  but  I  may  add  that  Barcaldine  was  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  specimens  of  the  thoroughbred  I  have 
met  with.  He  was  a  very  big  horse,  but  he  had  substance, 
muscle,  and  bone  in  keeping  with  his  great  frame,  and  for 
such  a  big  one  he  was  conspicuous  for  quality.  Speaking  of 
him  as  a  sire,  he  must  certainly  be  placed  in  the  very  highest 
class  from  the  paddock  point  of  view.  The  first  good  horse 
he  got  was  Morion,  who  won  the  Ascot  Cup  in  1891,  and 
in  the  same  year  he  was  responsible  for  Mimi,  winner  of 
the  Oaks  and  many  other  valuable  races.  Mimi  also 
credited  him  with  the  One  Thousand,  Sir  Visto  won  the 
Derby  and  St.  Leger  of  his  year ;  so  that  in  Barcaldine 
we  have  an  instance  of  a  horse  (Wisdom  supplies  another) 
who  never  contested  the  classic  races,  and  yet  was  good 
enough  to  sire  classic  winners.  In  1891  his  stock  won  over 
£20,000,  in  1892  £5,613,  in  1893  £8,284,  in  1894  £11,118, 
in  1895  £21,113,  in  1896  £9,651,  in  1897  £5,801,  and  in 
1898  £3,561.  Unfortunately  the  horse  has  been  dead 
several  years,  but  there  are  plenty  of  his  sons  to  carry  on 


LINES   OF   BLOOD  333 

the  line,  and  if  Morion  has  been  a  disappointment  so  far 
Wolfs  Crag  has  begun  excellently,  and  such  as  Sir  Visto, 
Marco,  and  The  Rush  will  shortly  be  heard  of.  As  a  rule 
the  Barcaldines  are  stayers ;  such  as  Morion  and  The  Rush 
certainly  were ;  and  though  Sir  Visto  did  not  attempt  a 
Cup  course  he  relished  the  St.  Leger  distance.  Barcaldine 
in  all  probability  never  got  one  so  good  as  himself,  but 
I  imagine  he  has  done  enough  to  perpetuate  the  West 
Australian  line  of  Matchem,  and  most  certainly  he  has 
rescued  it  from  comparative  oblivion. 

Why  it  is  that  about  five-sixths  of  the  best  horses  in 
training  are  descended  from  one  of  the  three  great  lines, 
and  that  the  other  two  should  be  credited  with  about  one- 
sixth  of  the  aggregate  of  races  between  them,  is  a  mystery. 
The  problem  has  puzzled  many  heads,  and  I  have  never 
heard  of  any  solution  which  was  really  feasible.  The  blood 
of  the  Godolphin  and  of  the  Byerly  Turk  is  to  be  found, 
sometimes  in  great  quantities,  in  every  living  thoroughbred, 
but  as  far  as  the  line  of  direct  tail  male  is  concerned  the 
Darley  Arabian  has  for  a  long  time  carried  all  before  it, 
and  according  to  present  indications  will  continue  to  do 
so  in  years  to  come. 


INDEX 


Tlic  luintcs  of  fwrscs  arc  printed  in.  italics 


AbdelKader,  19 
Abingdon  Mile,  54 

„     Bottom,  17,  53,  54 
Acorn  Stakes,  116 
Across  the  Flat,  48,  50,  53,  54 
Adeline,  317 
Adventurer,  332 
Aintree,  165 

Airs  and  Graces,  230,  261,  279,  304 
Albert  Club,  39 
Albert  Victor,  138,  189 
Alcibiade,  168 
Alexandra  Park  Meeting,  196 

Plate,  56,  65,  69,   70,  71, 

74,  75.  133,  3°7,  308 
Alfriston,  243 
Alicante,  208,  249 
Alice,  138,  299 
Alice  Hawthorn,  308 
Alington,  Lord,  236 
All-aged  Stakes,  69,  74,  75 
All  Heart  and  no  Peel,  272 
Allsopp,  103,  261 
Altcar  Steeplechase,  170 
Alt-na-bea,  103 
Altesse,  187 

Althorp  Park  Stakes,  155 
Altisidora,  307 
Alvescot)  1 06 
Ambush  II.,  169 
America,  South,  61 
American  horses,  6,  12,   14,  15,   104, 

232 

Jockeys,  253,  255,  256,  261-6 
,,         Trainers,  231-4 
Amiable,  230,  261,  314,  319 
Atnphion,  46,  187,  188,  208,  238,  325 
Amurath,  290 
Ancaster  Mile,  43,  55 
Angelica,  308 

Apology,  26,  28,  131,  139,  140 
Arabian  horses,  282 
Arbitrator,  332 


Archer,  Charles,  230 

„      Fred,  135,  215,  253,  261,  302 
Ardmore,  107 
Ardvourlie,  256 
Armstrong,  123,  253 
Arrandale,  140 
Arundel,  81,  243 
Ascetic,  298 

Ascot,  25,  48,  61,  175,  176 
Course,  66-8 
Derby,  65,  69,  74,  75 
Gold  Cup,  distance,  50,  56,  69 
„       „      value,  74,  75 
„       ,,     winners  of,   12,    16, 
43,  65,  87,  89,  91, 
177,  182,  197,  207, 
229,  242,  297,  304, 
305,  319,  320,  324, 
332 
Gold  Vase,  65,  69,  70,  74,  75, 

229 

High  Weight  Stakes,  72 
Hunt  Cup,  10 
Meetings,  63-75,  77,  79,   108, 

112 

Plate,  250 
Programme,  69 
Stakes,  65,  69,  70,  123 
„       value  of,  74,  75,  *78 
, ,       winners  of,  239,  25 1 ,  329 
Stands,  73 
Astley,  Sir  John,  239 
Astley  Stakes,  152 

Atmosphere,  resistance  to  riding,  265 
Audley  End  Course,  55 
Australian  horses,    n,    13-5,    15    n., 

192,  305 
Austria,  61 

Austrian  Government  buyers,  9 
Autumn  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  208 

,,       Cup,  Liverpool,  171 
Avington,  188 
Ayah,  132 


335 


336 


INDEX 


Ayr  Races,  216,  253 
Ayrshire,  93,  94,  132,  178,  230,  303, 
304 

Babraham  Plate,  43 

Bainesse,  252 

Baird,  Mr.  G.  A.,  239 

Baker,  The,  248 

Bald  Galloway,  287 

Baliol,  292 

Ballyroe,  332 

Barb,  282 

Barcaldine,  1 6,  215,  216,  331,  332 

Barclay,  Captain,  38 

„       Mr.,  321 
Bard,  The,  16,  87,  99,  133,  162,  208, 

271,  305 
Barker,  211 
Barmecide,  12 
Barnard's  Stand,  112 
Baron,  The,  289,  290,  296,  317 
Barrett,  G.,  181 
Barsac,  170 

Bartlett's  Childers,  285,  287 
Barton  Mills,  29 
Basset,  Mr.,  241 
Bates,  H.  and  F.,  123,  238,  251 
Bath,  149,  150,  157 
Batho,  243 
Batt,  182 
Batthyany,  Prince,  272,  316,  317,  319 

„          Stakes,  161 
Baumber  Stables,  246,  315 
Bavelaw  Castle,  256 
Bay  Bolton,  287 

„    Malton,  141 

„    Middleton,  328 

„    Ronald,  12 

Beacon  Course,  36,  41,  48,  52,  53>  55 
Beadsman,  307,  308 
Beatty,  Captain  C.,  234,  235 
Beauclerc,  95,  191,  247,  307 
Beaufort,  Duke  of,  241 

,,        Handicap,  207 
Beckhampton,  235,  240 
Bedford  Plate,  48 
Beecher's  Brook,  167 
Beeswing,  212,  300,  302 
Belamphion,  232 
Bel  Demonio,  290,  295 
Belladrum,  332 
Bellario,  141 
Belle  Mahone,  250 
Belphcebe,  210 
Ben  Battle,  290,  296 
Bend  Or,  stud  career,  96,   101,   188, 
272,  289,  292,  295,  296 
,,        turf  career,  116,  131 
Bendigo,  line  of,  296 


Bendigo,  turf  career,  9,   16,  51,   176, 

178,  187,  188,  238,  321 
Beningborough,  310 
Bentinck,  Lord  George,  76,  77,  84,  279 
Beresford,  Lord  William,  15,  226,  230, 

231 

Berkshire  trainers,  237-9 
Bertram,  290 
Berzak,  231 

Best  Man,  90,  290,  295 
Betty  Leedes,  285,  287 
Beverley,  120,  122,  123,  145 
Bewicke,  Captain,  237 
Bibby,  Mr.,  251 
Bibury  Club,  77,  149,  153 
Bickerstaffe  Stakes,  170 
Biennial,  43,  69,  74,  75,  149,  150,  214 
Bill  of  Portland,  318,  322 
Billow,  329 
Binnie,  251 
Birdcage,  The,  29,  57 
Birdcatcher,  272, 289, 290, 296,  308, 309 
Birdless  Grove,  79 
Birkenhead,  99 
Birmingham  Course,  202,  203 

,,  Handicap,  n 

Bishops  Stortford,  35 
Blacklegs,  287 

Blacklock,  appearance  and  skeleton,  312 
„        line  of,   14,  297,  309,   311, 

313,  322,  325 
,,        type,  326 
Blacksmith,  231 
Blackwell,  230 

Blair  Athol,  16,  139,  215,  290,  291 
Blanc,  M.,  94,  101 
Blankney  yearlings,  276 
Blaze,  327 
Blink  Bonny,  331 

„       stables,  248 
Blinkhoolie,  290,  296 
Blue  Gown,  307 

„    Green,  308 
Bognor,  80 
Bon  Accord,  332 
Bonaparte,  250 
Bonavista,  289,  292 
Bonny  Jean,  258 
Bookmakers'  generosity,  33 
Border  Minstrel,  151 
Boria  Vista,  272 
Boscawen  Stakes,  49,  103 
Bourne  Bridge,  102 
Bowes,  Mr.  John,  332 
Bradford,  Lord,  244,  296 

„         W.,  261 
Bradgate  Park  Plate,  133 
Braine,  H.,  240,  241 
Brayhead,  279 


INDEX 


337 


Brayley,  Mr.,  19 

Breadalbane,  95 

Breadknife,  248,  249,  251,  290,  292 

Breeders,  English,  6-15,  19-23 

Breeders'  Plate,  48 

„        Produce  Stakes,  246 
Bretby  Stakes,  51,  53 
Briar-root,  207 
Bridegroom ,  190 
Brigg,  294 

Brighton  Races,  17,  113,  149,  151 
Brimmer,  287,  330 
Brinkley  Plate,  107 
Brockhurst  Plate,  189 
Brocklesby,  45,  160-2,  230,  270 
Brough  Hall,  147 
Bruckshaw,  251 
Brunette,  330 
Bruntwood  Stud,  276 
Buccaneer,  103,  138,  197,  328 
Buckenham  Stakes,  49 
Bunbury  Mile,  48,  55,  56,  125,  324 
Burbage,  240 
Burnaby,  238 
Burwell,  29 
Bury  Hills,  39-41 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  29 
Bushes,  The,  53,  54 
Bus  hey  Park,  211 
Busybody,  300,  305 
Buzzard,  328 

Byerly  Turk,  317,  327,  330 
Byrne,  General,  187 

Cadet,  330 
Caerlaverock,  140 

Caesarewitch,  37,  46,  50-2,  53,  56,  57, 
73,  116,  159,  187,199, 

25i 

,,  Winners  of,  12,  15,  17, 

90,  101,  152,  211,  230, 
238, 242,  278,  304,  325 
Caiman,  97,  98,  100,  108 
Cain,  328 

Californian  breeding,  6 
Caller  Ou,  215 
Cambridge,  35 

Hill,  37 
Cambridgeshire,  Old,  38,  55 

„  The,  46,  51,  53,  116, 

199,  240 

,,  Winnersof,9O,92,i52, 

178,  209,  230,  238, 
241,  249,  272,  324, 
325»  328 

Camel,  line  of,  296 
Cannon  family,  253 
„      Joseph,  36,  230 
„       K.,  237,  264 


Cannon,  Mornington,  96,  98-100,  103, 
105,    106,    182,    237,    256, 
258,  260,  324 
,,        Tom,  140,  230,  257 
Canterbury,  26 
Canterbury  Pilgrim,  297 
Cap  Martin,  292 
Captain  Kettle,  103 
Carbine,  13,  14,  236,  305 
Carhaix,  279 
Carlisle,  26,  123,  172 
Carlton,  133,  208,  210,  211,  331 
Carnage,  305,  306 
Cassel,  Sir  E.,  230 
Casse  Tfte,  19 
Castlereagh,  314,  325 
Castor,  248,  249 
Castrel,  328 
Catterick,  120,  145 
Cecilia,  291 

Century  Stakes,  176  n. 
Cervantes,  330 
Chaddesden  Stakes,  256 
Chaleureux,  230,  278 
Challenge  Stakes,  51 
Chaloner,  G.,  122,  230 

R.,230 

T.,  252 
Champagne  Stakes,  48,  116,  132,  134, 

145.  J53 

Champ  de  Mars,  292 
Champion  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  199 
„         Stakes,  50,  90,  178 
,,         Steeplechase,  170 
Chandler,  H.,  243 
»        J-,  238 
Chandley,  S.,  261 
Chandos,  283 
Chaplin,  Mr.,  298 
Charibert,  328 
Charles  II.,  286 
Charlton  Downs,  83 

,,        Handicap,  85 
Chatsworth,  141 
Chelandry,  258,  289,  294,  324 
Chester  Cup,  56,  157-9,  178,  188 

,,  Winners    of,  ?2ii,    239, 

266,  299 

Chester  Races,  26,  149,  155-9 
Chesterfield  Cup,  85,  187 
,,          Handicap,  127 

Stakes,  48,  49,  56 
Cheveley  Park,  37 

„         Stakes,  52 
Chevening,  102,  106,  108 
Chichester,  78-81 

Stakes,  85 
Childwick,  280 
Chilton,  Mr.,  315 


338 


INDEX 


Chippendale,  117 

Chislehurst,  248 

Chittabob,  132,  207,  248,  250,  290,  295 

Choke  Jade,  37 

City  and  Suburban,  114,  115,  116,  162, 

178,  192 
,,  ,,        Winners  of,  12,  13, 

188,    197,    252, 

329 

City  of  London  Foal  Stakes,  144 
City  Plate,  207 
Clack,  242 
Clarehaven,  17,  242 
Clay,  243 

Clayton,  Mr.  E.  C.,  244 
Clearwell  Stakes,  50 
Clement,  G.,  239 
Clerk  of  the  Course,  38,  39 
Cleveland,  Duke  of,  313 

„          Handicap,  133,  232 
Clipstone,  279 

Cloister,  17,  18,  168.  169,  298,  299 
Clorane,  159,  162,  190,  211,  241,  314, 

326 

Clumber  Plate,  134 
Clivyd,  189,  190,  191,  278 
Cceruleus,  308 
Coke,  Mr.,  330 
Cole,  Mr.,  244 
Cole,  Mr.  Comyns,  38 
Colling,  248 
Colonel,  The,  168 
Colonial  Horses,  6,  n,  13 
Column  Produce  Stakes,  43,  44,  271 
Col  wick  Park,  201 
Comeaway,  168 
Comette,  103 
Comfrey,  238,  328 
Common,  92-4,    113,    114,    179,    272, 

289-91 

Compton  Stables,  238 
Comus,  330,  331 
Conductor,  330,  331 
Connor,  T.,  252 

Convivial  Produce  Stakes,  138,  293 
Cooper,  Mr.  D.,  252 
Coriander,  311 
Corinthian  Plate,  85 
Cornbury,  117 

Coronation  Stakes,  65,  69,  74,  75 
Corporation  Handicap  (Doncaster),  134 
Corposant,  259 
Carrie  Roy,  50,  138,  210 
Cort,  A.,  230 

Count  Schomberg,  61,  62,  90 
Coventry  Stakes,  48,  65,  69,  74,  75,  102 
Craddock,  E.,  242 
Crafton,  328 
Craigmillar,  133,  290-2,  316 


Craven  Course,  181 
„      Meeting,  43,  157 
„      Stakes,  38,  43,  85 
„      Week,  30 
Crawford,  S.,  241 

Plate,  43 

Cremorne,  116,  328,  329 
Crewe,  Lord,  236 
Criterion,  38 

„        Course,  55 
»        Hill,  48 

Nursery,  38,  52 
„        Stakes,  52,  97 
Croxteth  Plate,  171 
Croxton  Park  Meeting,  172 
Crucifix,  279 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  327 

,,  Plate,  172 

Cup  Course  (Goodwood),  76,  84 
Cureall,  19 
Curwen,  Mr.,  327 

Cyllene,  16,  47,  99,  183,  227,  289,  292 
Cypria,  211 
Cypron,  327 


Dalby,  159 
Damocles,  99,  244 
Danebury,  154,  237,  257,  258 
Danum  Nursery,  134 
D'Arcy,  Lord,  289 
D'Arcy  White  Turk,  286,  327 
Dare  Devil,  159,  21 1 
Darley  Arabian,  285,  287,  288,  330 
Darling,  S.,  240 
Dawson,  G.,  229,  230,  241 
„       J.,  229,  230 
„        M.,  219,  228,  253  n. 
Day,  A.,  243 

„    F.  W.  and  J.,  230 
De  Trafford  Handicap,  207,  208,  250 
De  Warrenne  Handicap,  152 
Decies,  Lord,  251 
Dee  Stakes,  159 
Delight,  315 
Democrat,  102-7,  231 
Derby  Course,  109,  112,  113,  126 
„     Cup,  199 
„      Day,  1 10 
„      Plate,  207 

„      The,  4,  31,  44,  88-91,  1 10,  1 13, 
115,  157,  178,  198,  199 
,,         „     Winners  of,  44,  89  el  seq., 
178,  179,  208,  209,  227, 
229,  230,  240,  257-61, 
279,    295-7,    300,    303, 
304,  3°7,  3H,  3!6,  327, 
329-32 
Derby,  Lord,  166 


INDEX 


339 


Derwentwater,  250 
Despair,  238,  277,  328 
Devonshire,  Duke  of,  210,  228,  279 

,,          Nursery,  219 
Dewhurst  Stakes,  48,  52,  53,  104,  116 
Diamond^  310 
Diamond  Jubilee \  19,  47,  102-9,   I^2> 

229,  321 

Dick  Andrews,  307 
Dicudonnt)  99,  187,  326 
Digby  Grand)  116 
Dinna  Forget^  119,  241 
Disguise  II.)  107-9 
Disraeli)  316 
Disturbance)  168 
Ditch,  The,  36,  48,  53,  55-7,  71 
Ditch  Mile,  46 
Dixon,  Major,  135 
Docker)  The,  250 
Dr.  Syntax )  212 
Dolls,  40 
Dolphin)  ThC)  80 

Doncaster)  70,  87,  132,  272,  289,  295 
Doncaster,  25,  26,  32,  42,  67,  68,  77, 
120,  157,  175 

Autumn  Meeting,  127,  132 

Course,  125,  126 

Cup  Winners,  133, 232, 250, 

299,  3OI»  3H 
Programme,  131 
September  Meeting,  133 
Spring  Meeting,  126,  127, 

150 

„          Stakes,  133 

„          Town  Moor,  124,  134 

„          Welter  Plate,  133 
Donovan)  stud  career,  316 
,,        trainer,  230 

„        turf  career,  47,  51,  52,  93, 
94,    132,    162,   207,    208, 
248,  249,  260,  271 
Doralice)  325 
Dormer,  C.  C,  244 
Dorsetshire  trainers,  242 
Dover,  J. ,  238 
Drayton  Handicap,  85 
Dresden  China)  248 
Drislane,  251 
Dromonby)  189 
Druid)  The)  141,  312 
Duchess,  311 

Duchess  of  York's  Plate,  170 
Duff,  Mr.,  18 
Duke  of  Richmond)  319 
Duke  of  York's  Stakes,  138,  192 
Duke)  The)  290 
Duke,  W.,  231-3 
Dullingham,  29,  36 
Dunstall  Park  Meeting,  203,  204 


Durdans  Plate,  115 
Durham,  26,  120,  121 

,,        County  Produce  Stakes,  142 
Durham,  Lord,6i,  122,  124,  143,  176  n., 
230,    234,  239,    252,   261, 
301,  302 
Dutch  Oven)  132 
117 


193,  242 

Earl  Spencer's  Plate,  155 

East,  238 

Eaton  Stud,  94,  236 

Ebor)  313 

Ebor  Handicap,  134,  138 

Eclipse)  285-7,  289,  290,  311,  326,  332 

Eclipse  Stakes,  62,  78,  176,  177,  181, 

184 

„  „  Winners  of,  89,  90,  93, 
loo,  108,  109,  140, 
176,  179,  1  80,  182, 
183,  229,  271,  324, 

325 
Economist^  326 

Edenbridge  Meeting,  195 
Edinburgh  Races,  216 
Egerton  House,  106,  228 
Egham,  25 
Eglinton,  Lord,  314 
Egmont)  234 
Egmont  Course,  114 
Elf  II.)  328 
Ellesmere,  Lord,  239 
Stakes,  56 
Ellington,  18 
Elopement)  105 
Elsey,  246 

Elton  Juvenile  Plate,  142 
Emma)  332 
English  Blood,  Origin  of,  282 

,,       Breeders  (see  Breeders) 
Enniskilleny  251 
Enoch,  J.,  230 
Enterprise)  178 
Enthusiast,  93,  246,  249 
Epsom,  17,  25,  48,  73,  77,  175,  176 

,,       Cup   Winners,   12,   115,    132, 

319 

,,        Meetings,  88-11  8,  157 

,,       Stakes,  115 

„       Trainers,  243,  244 
Epsom  Lad)  103 
Escott,  243 

Esher  Ring  Stakes,  184 
Euclid)  1  88 
Exeter,  26 

„       Stakes,  48,  56 
Exminster,  308 
Exning,  29 


340 


INDEX 


Exning  Stakes,  48 
Exton  Park,  244 

Fairy  Field,  86 
Fallen's  Stables,  237,  242 
Falmouth,  Lord,  220 
Farquhar,  Lord,  234 
Father  O'Flynn,  243,  298,  299 
Fatherless,  117 
Faugh-a-Ballagh,  320 
Favo,  328 

Favonius,  87,  151,  328,  329 
Fenwick,  Sir  John,  286 
,,         Mr.  Noel,  95 
Fern  Hill  Stakes,  61,  65,  69,  74,  75 
Field,  The,  3,  39,  101 
Findon  Stakes,  85 

,,       trainers,  243 
Finlay,  182,  261 
Fitzgerald,  Sir  M.,  231 
Fitzwilliam  Stakes,  95,  127,  134 
Flageolet,  87 
Flat,  The,  49,  53 
Florence,  51 
Florentine,  305 
Florizel,  208 
Florizel  II. ,  229 
Flying  Childers,  327 

,,      Duchess,  316 

,,      Diitchman,  16,  143,  314-6,  328 
Flying  Dutchman's  Handicap,  137 
Flying  Fox,  9,  16,  101,  102,  105,  108 

„         ,,     pedigree,  94,  272,  289 

„  „  turf  career,  48,  49,  87, 
95-101,  108,  109,  182, 
258 

„      Greek,  232 
Flying  Handicap,  48 
Fordham,  253 
Forfarshire,  105,  107,  109 
Four  Oaks  Park  Meeting,  197 
Fox,  327 

Foxhall,  15,  51,  294,  327! 
Foxhill  Plate,  12,  191,  241 
France,  61 
Free  Handicap,  52 
French  Derby,  298 

,,      horses,  182 
Friar  Rush,  298 
Friar 's  Balsam,  297,  298 
Friday,  320 
Frigate,  169 

Frith's  "Derby  Day,"  no 
Frontier,  100,  292 
Fulbourne  Stakes,  48 
Funny  Boat,  190 
Furzes,  113 

Galashiels,  257,  264 


Galeottia,  316 

Gal  Hard,  316 

Gallinule,  192,  240,  299 

Galloping  Dick,  316 

Galopin,  appearance,  315,  316 

stud  career,  94,  95,  179,  237, 
299,  308,  309,  314-7,  326 
,,        value  of,  272,  316 

Galtee  More,  appearance,  294 

pedigree,  289,  292 
,,  stud  career,  318 

„  turf  career,  17,  47,  51,89, 

90,  94,  240,  294 
„  value,  294 

Galveston,  103 

Gamecock,  168,  169 

Gangway,  295 

Gap,  The,  55 

Gatland,  243 

Gat  wick,  78,  194,  195 

General  Peace,  237 

George  IV.,  151 

Georgic,  230 

Germany,  9,  61 

Gibbons,  231 

Gibside  Fairy,  332 

Gilbert,  A.  J.,  245 

Gilpin,  Mr.,  220,  242 

Gimcrack,  140 

Gimcrack  Club,  141 

„         Stakes,  139,  140 

Ginistrelli,  Chevalier,  208 

Gladiator,  329  g£T-:3® 

Glasgow  Nursery,  134 

Glendale,  215,  301,  302 

Gloucester,  26 

Godolphin  Barb,  287,  321,  330-3 

Godolphin,  Lord,  330 

Gohanna,  317 

Gold  Cup  (see  Ascot,  Epsom,  etc. ) 

Goldfinch,  289,  292 

Golding,  C.  W.,  230 

Goletta,  182,  227,  314,  324 

Golumpus,  330 

Goodwood,  25,  73-87,  109,  175,  176, 

193 

,,          Cup  distance,  56,  85 
,,  ,,     winners,  12,  62,  83,  87, 

229,  248,  278,  279, 
301,  308,  320 
Plate,  12,  70 
,,          Programme,  84,  85 
„          Stakes,  85,  301 
,,          Stewards'  Cup,  133,  171 
Gosforth  Park,  123,  124,  212-6,  250, 

320 

Gou-verneur,  179,  180,  208 
Governor,  250 
Grafter,  The,  13 


INDEX 


341 


Grand  Military  Meeting,  183,  185 

Grand  National,  4,  19,  156,  164,  166, 

185 

,,  „         value,  170 

,,  ,,         winners  of,  17, 1 8,  169, 

170,  243,  298 

Grand  Prix  de  Paris,  298 

Grateley  Stable,  237 

Gratwicke  Stakes,  85 

Great  Aintree  Steeplechase,  298,  299 
,,     Cheshire  Handicap,  159 
,,     Eastern  Railway  Handicap,  49 
,,     Foal  Stakes,  49 
,,     Jubilee    Handicap    (see   Jubilee 

Stakes) 
,,     Metropolitan   Stakes,    114,    115, 

188,  211,  279,  301. 
,,     National  Breeders' Foal  Plate,  144 
,,     Northern  Handicap,  123, 137,251 
,,     Northern  Leger,  142 
,,     Sapling  Plate,  103 
,,     Subscription  Stakes,  141 
,,     Surrey  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  116 
,,     Tom  Stakes,  163 
,,     West  Riding  Handicap,  145 
„     Yorkshire  Handicap,   133,    139, 
211 

Green  Lawn,  90,  292 

Green,  T.,  252 

Greenan,  99,  191 

Gretton,  Mr.,  207 

Grey  Leg,  46,  88,  252,  329 
,,     Wilkes,  238,  285,  287 

Guildford,  25,  81 

Gurry,  M.,  230 

Gwynne,  Nell,  35 

Haggin,  Mr.,  6 
Hagioscope,  325 
Hall,  H.,  251,  252 
Halnaker  Stakes,  85,  319 
Halsey,  W.,  243 
Ham  Stakes,  85,  293 
Hambledon,  248,  250 
Hambleton  Stables,  123,  252 
Hambletonian,  309,  311,  316 
Hamilton,  Duke  of,  35,  257 
Hamilton  Park,  216 
Hammond,  Mr.  J.,  239 
Hampshire  Stakes,  153 

,,          trainers,  234-7 
Hampton,  appearance,  303 

,,         line  of,  299-306 

,,         turf  career,   87,    117,    133, 

215,  278,  301,  302 
Hampton  Races,  192 
Hanworth  Park  Plate,  234 
Hardwicke  Plate,  142 


Hardwicke  Stakes,  9,  65,  69,  74,  75, 

99,  178,  297,  320,  321 
Hare,  Mr.,  243 
Hare  Park,  35 
Harewood,  Lord,  122,  251 
Harkaway,  317,  325,  326 
Harpenden,  149,  152 
Harrow,  17,  195 
Harvester,  259 
Hastings  Plate,  46,  106 
Hautboy,  285 
Hawfinch,  243 
Hawkey e,  250 
Hawley,  Sir  J.,  236 
Hawthornden,  300 
Haydock  Park,  172 
Hayhoe,  A.,  229 
Hazlehatch,  298 
Heaumc,  93,  298 
Hedon,  120 
Herald,  13 
Hereford,  26 
Hermes,  332 
Herminia,  239 
Herminius,  239 
Hermit,  276,  297-9,  326,  328 
Herod  line,  310,  311,  327-30 
Hertfordshire  trainers,  244 
Highfield,  247-50 
Highflyer,  311,  327,  328 
High  Weight  Plate,  69,  74,  75 
Hirsch,  Baron,  209,  272 
Hobbs,  238 

Hodgson,  Mr.  J.  G.,  95 
Holocauste,  98 
Holt,  W.,  244 
Hopeful  Stakes,  127 
Hornsby,  239 
Hornsea,  317 
Horseshoe  Handicap,  195 
Houghton  Meeting,  43,  51,  160,  271 

Stakes,  52 

Houldsworth,  Mr.,  209 
Huggins,  108,  230,  231 

„        stable,  264 
Humphrey  Clinker,  330-1 
Hungary,  61 

Hunt  Cup,  69,  74,  75,  146,  189 
Hunters  Improvement  Society,  II 
Huntingdon,  149,  152 
Hurstbourne  Stakes,  153,  154 
Hurst  Park,  12,  78,  192,  193,  242 

„         „      Selling  Plate,  189 
Hylton  Handicap,  170 

I'Anson,  William,  95,  123,  246,  247-50 

Ibex,  1 68 

Imperial  Produce  Stakes,  96 

Imp,  The,  187 


342 


INDEX 


Inbreeding,  288 

Indian  riders,  265 

Industry,  331 

Ingram,  Sir  William,  238 

Inishfree,  232 

Innocence,  99 

Institute,  Newmarket,  223 

International  Breeders'  Stakes,  144 

Ion,  317,  328 

Irish  horses,  168,  191,  192,  215,  240 

Irony,  94,  95 

Ishmael,  251 

Isinglass,  height,  113,  114 

,,         pedigree,  289,  290 

,,         trainer,  235 

„  turf  career,  47-9,  51,  87,  91, 
93»  94,  98,  177,  209,  210, 
248,  260,  325 

„         value,  182 
Isonomy,  line  of,  289,  309 

,,        stud  career,  290,  291,  299 

„        turf  career,  51,  87,  132,  133, 

138,  151,  207,  291 
Ithunel,  305 

James  I.,  282 

Janissary,  289-91 

Jannette,  132,  300 

Jaquemart,  190,  292 

Jardine,  Sir  Robert,  251,  280 

Jarvis,  W.,  229 

Jeddah,  44,  94,    100,    113,  240,    259, 

289-91 

Jennings,  T.,  229,  230 
Jenny  Howlet,  248 
Jerboa,  317 
Jersey,  Mr.,  279 
Jevington,  243 
Jewitt,  J.,  70,  234,  235 

/to  327 

Jockey  Club,  38,  47,  166,  174-6,  180, 

192,  216 

Cup,  12,  52,  56,  57,  62 
Meetings,  183,  196 
Plate,  141 

Reforms,  61,  142,  254 
Stakes,  49,  loo,  109,  229, 

324 

Joe  Andrews,  307 
John  o'  Gaunt  Plate,  207 
Johnstone,  Sir  Frederick,  236 

Mr.W.,  103 
Joicey,  Major,  250,  251 
Jolly  Tar,  109,  231 
Jones,  H.,  105-8 

»     J-,  105 
Jousiffe,  C,  241,  321 
Jubilee  Stakes,  115,  116,  162,  185,  186, 

246 


Jubilee  Stakes,  Winners  of,  16,  50,  51, 
187,  188,  191,  192, 
197,  232,  241,  242, 
278 

July  Cup,  43,  48 
,,    Stakes,  48,  56,  102,  293 

Juvenile  Selling  Plate,  134 

Keeper  of  the  Heath,  40 

,,       Match  Book,  38 
Kelso,  216 
Kempton  Park  Meetings,  31,  78,  86,  87, 

106,  144,    157,    176, 
185-7 

,,  Winners  at,  16,  87,  96, 

107,  190 

Kendal,  272,  289,  292,  293,  304 
Kettledrum,  301 

Kilcock,  189,  191,  240,  332 
Kilwarlin,  178,  240,  241,  332 
Kincsem,  87 
King,  H.  F.,  231 
King  Charles,  35,  1 16 

„     Crow,  123,  251 

„     Fergus,  289,  309,  310 

,,     Monmouth,  138 

,,      Tom,  317,  326 
Kingcraft,  326 
King's  Courier,  232 

„       Messenger,  244,  278 
Kingsclere,  45,  94,  101,  105,  109,  140, 

179,  181,  235,  236 
"Kingsclere,"  by  J.  Porter,  180,  181, 

293 

Kingston  Warren,  238 
Kirkbank  Hall,  252 
Kirkconnel,  258,  304 
Kirkleatham,  143 
Kisber,  52,  328,  329 
Knavesmire,  124,  137 
Knight  of  the  Thistle,  10,  46,  189,  231 
Knowsley  Dinner  Stakes,  171 
Knutsford,  156 
Kyoto,  163 

La  Fleche,  appearance,  314,  319 

,,          compared  with  Ayrshire,  94 
,,          contest  with  Orme,  179-81 
turf  career,    51-6,   91,   92, 
131,  132,  180,  205,  208- 
10,  257,  272,  273,  294 
,,          value,  272 
La  Roche,  108,  232,  258,  321 
La  Sagesse,  90,  260 
Labrador,  90,  91,  182 
Lacerta,  317 
Lactantius,  305 
Ladas,  appearance,  304 

,,      compared  with  Sir  Hugo,  94 


INDEX 


343 


Ladas,  pedigree,  105,  303 

„      turf   career,   47,    51,   91,    116, 

131,  132,  257,  258,  300 
,,      value,  182 
Ladies  as  race-goers,  176 
Lady  Langden,  301 
,,     Min,  103 
„     Moore,  307 
Lamb,  The,  19,  168 
Lambkin,  The,  257 
Lambton,  Mr.  G.,  234 

,,         Plate,  142 
Lamprey,  95 
Lanark,  216 
Lancashire  Breeders'  Stakes,  171 

„          Handicap,  171 

„          Plate,  92,  205,  208-10,  272 
Stakes,  93 

„          Steeplechase,  211 

,,          Nursery,  208 
Landrail,  264 
Lanercost,  331 
Lang,  B.,  38 
Langton  Wold,  247,  251 
Laodamia,  133,  292,  324 
Latham,  252 
Lauraguais,  Count,  141 
Lavant  Stakes,  85 
Lawson,  Sir  John,  147 
LAbbesse  dejouarre,  208,  249,  297 
Le  Blizon,  243 
Le  Just  icier,  90,  182 
Le  Nord,  93 
Le  Rot  Soleil,  298 
Le  Var,  182 
Leach,  F.,  231 
Leader,  T.,  229 

„          W.,242 

Leamington,  159 
Lebaudy,  M.,  230 
Lee,  Mr.  W.  F.,  232 
Leedes  Arabian,  285 
Leicester,  176,  198,  200 
Leolinus,  139 
Lewes,  149,  151,  152 

,,      Handicap,  12,  90,  123,  152,  278 

,,      trainers,  243 
Lewis,  242 
Libra,  264 
Lichfield,  26,  156 
Lily  Agnes,  133,  138 
Limasol,  261,  324 
Limekiln  Stakes,  52 
Limekilns,  34,  39-41,  227 
Lincoln,  26,  149,  161 

„        Meetings,  156,  157,  159-63 

,,        Handicap,  163 
Lincolnshire  Handicap,  160,  162,  178, 
1 88,  246 


Lincolnshire  Handicap  Winners,  162, 
178,190,211,237,241, 
,,  Stables,  246  [324 

Lingfield,  17,  78,  194,  195 
Lister  Turk,  The,  285,  287 
Little  Fairy,  317 

,,     Saint,  87 
Littlehampton,  80 
Liverpool  Course,  165 

„        Cup,  170,  171,211,249,250, 

272,  279 

Meetings,  149,  163-72 
Loates,  C.,  260 

„       S.,  253,  259,  260,  266 
,,       T.,  259,  260,  323,  324 
Lomas,  244 

London  County  Council,  196 
Londonderry,  Lord,  122,  143 
Lonely,  297 
Long  Hill,  39 
Longbow,  305 
Longy,  14,  103 
Lord  Clifden,  139,  300,  305 

„     Derby,  234 

„    Edward  IL,  191,  246 
Lord  Lieutenant's  Plate,  310 
Lord  Lome,  251 

„     Lyon,  187 

,,     Ronald,  290,  295 
Lordship  Farm,  36 
Lorillard,  Mr.,  231 
Lottery,  17,  307 
Love  Wisely,  242,  324,  325 
Lowe,  J.,  238 
Lowland  Chief,  239 
Low  lander,  316 
Lowther,  Mr.  J.,  143 

Stakes,  51 
Lucie  II. ,  1 02 
Luke,  H.,  239 
Lukie,  H.,  238 
Lund,  C.,  95,  122,  251 
Lunn,  T.,  252 
Lynham,  F.,  239 

Macaroni,  328,  329 
Macaroon,  328 
McCalmont,  Mr.,  37 
Macgregor,  328,  329 
Machell,  Captain,  220,  235,  241 
Mclntyre,  Mr.,  308 
McKenna,  242 
McKie,  238 

Madame  dtt  Barry,  248  ,\ , . 

Madden,  H.  O.,  253,  259 
Makeless,  330 

Malton,  120,  122,  123,  219,  247 
Manchester  Cup,   123,  129,  239,  248, 
250,  251,  278,  305 


344 


INDEX 


Manchester  Meetings,  157, 176, 204-12, 

230,  256 

,,          Ship  Canal,  212 
Mandale  Bottoms,  142 
Manifesto,  18,  168,  169,  237,  299 
Manning,  W.  C.,  36 

,,         Messrs.,  212 
Manton,  241,  242 
Maple,  Sir  J.  B. ,  92,  280,  290 
March,  Lord,  87 

,,       Stakes,  12,  46,  90 
Marcion,  304 
Marco,  90,  91,  152,  252 
Marie  Stuart,  132,  151 
Marius  //.,  279 
Mark,  328 
Mario w,  314 
Marriner,  252 

Marsh,  R.,  105-8,  228,  229 
Marske,  287 

Martagon,  208,  272,  289,  292,  308 
Martha  Lynn,  313 
Martin,  J.  H.,  264 
Mart  ley,  178 

Master  Kildare,  116,  290,  295 
Master  of  H.M.  Buckhounds,  175 
Matchem,  327,  330,  331,  333 
May  Plate,  159 
Medicis,  181 
Melanion,  298 
Melbourne,  189,  330,  331 
Melton,  1 1 6,  290,  295 
Melton  House,  219 
Memoir,  47,  93,    131,  230,  257,   258, 

272,  273,  298,  308,  321 
Mendicant,  307 
Merman,  n,  12 
Merope,  316 

Merry,  Mr.,  179,  219,  220,  272 
Merry  Gal,  188,  232 

„      Hampton,    178,   131,   132,  257, 

3°3 

,,      Methodist,  192,  232 
Metropolitan  Stakes,  56,  117,  153 
Meux,  Lady,  231 
Michaelmas  Plate,  208 
Middle  Park,  116 

„     Plate,  48,  51,  107 
,,  „         ,,      Winners,  97,  104, 

240,    307,    322, 

323 

Middleham,  26,  123,  247,  251,  252 
Middlesex  and  County  Racing  Club, 

196 

Midhurst,  81 
Midland  Counties  Handicap,  172 

„        Nursery,  189 
Midlands,  2,  7,  24 
Midsummer  Stakes,  49 


Mildenhall,  29 

Milford,  295 

Milkmaid,  327 

Miller,  Sir  J.,  38,  93,  159,  243,  280 

Milton  Stakes,  134 

Milwea,  327 

Mimi,  47,  272,  273,  332 

Miner,  The,  139,  140 

Minting,  9,  16,  51,  132,  187,  292,  321 

„         Queen,  162 
Miss  D'Arcy's  Pet  Mare,  285 

,,    Jummy,  258,  300,  305 
Moira,  237 
Molecomb  Stakes,  85 
Molyneux  Plate,  95,  170,  171,  270 
Monkchester  Plate,  250 
Montargis,  51 

Montrose.  Duchess  of,  206,  241,  250 
Moore,  W.  H.,  237 
Moorhen,  299 
Morglay,  329 
Morion,  332 
Morton,  C.,  239 
Moss,  F.,  311 
Mostyn  Stakes,  159,  293 
Mother  Western,  287 
Mottisfont  Stakes,  153 
Moulsey  Hurst,  192 
Mowerina,  332 

Mrs.  Butterwick,  230,  258,  319 
Mrs.  Ridgway,  315 
Mulatto,  313 
Muncaster,  295 
Musa,  96,  99,  259 
Muscatel,  301,  302 
Musker,  Mr.,  245 
Musket,  305 
Mustang,  282 
My  Boy,  99 


Nassau  Stakes,  85 

National  Breeders'  Stakes,  183 

National    Hunt    Meetings,    155,    163, 

172,  183 

Netheravon,  242 
New  Course  (Derby),  114 
„     Mile  (Ascot),  71,  72 
„     Stakes  (Ascot),  65,  69,  95,  293 
Newcastle  Cup,  212,  216 

„         Races,  95,  212,  250,  302 
„          (Staffordshire),  156 
Newcourt,  123,  248,  250,  278 
New  haven  II.,  n,  12,  46,  192 
Newmarket,  25-9,  34,  36-8,  117,  120, 

124,  228 

,,          Courses,  43,  125 
,,          Fixtures,  43-5°»  J57,  177, 
263,  310 


INDEX 


345 


Newmarket  Stakes,  Winners  of,   105, 
106,  108,  109,  229,  240, 
308 
, ,  Trainers,  217,218,  227-3 l 

Newminster,  291,  300 

Newton,  Mr.,  172,  279 

Nichol,  Mr.  A.,  300 

Nightingall,  A.,  244 
W.,  243 

Ntnust  99,  100 

No  Triimps,  96 

Noble  Chieftain,  244 

None  the  Wiser,  90,  182 

Norbury  Plate,  115 

Norfolk  trainers,  245 

North,  Colonel,  86,  188,  191 

North  Derby,  214,  250 

Northallerton,  120-2 

Northampton,  149,  154,  155,  157 

Northamptonshire  Stakes,  155,  250, 388 

Northern  Farmer,  243 

Northern  stables,  246-53 

Northumberland  Plate,  21 1,212,214-6, 
123,  248,  250,  251,  278,  301 

Nottingham,  157,  198,  200 
„  Races,  201 

Nugent,  Sir  Charles,  242 

Nun  Nicer,  260,  272,  289 

Nunthorpe,  188,  197,  198 

Oadby,  200,  201 

Oaks,  The,  4,  65,  69,  113 

,,          Newmarket,  at,  50 
,,          Winners  of,  90,  93,  96,  99, 
108,  227,  230,  248,  249, 
257-61,   272,    294,    297, 
300,  304,  305,  327,  332 
Ocean  Wave,  329 
Ogbourne,  239,  240 
Old  Careless,  285 
,,   Montagu,  287 
Omladina,  132,  323 
One  Thousand  Guinea  Stakes,  46,  65 
Ditto,  Winners  of,  93,  207,  227,  229, 
258,  260,  272,  297,  305,  316,  321,  332 
Orbit,  140,  178 
Orlando,  325 
Orme,  pedigree,  289,  308 
„      stud  career,  9,  95,  292 
„     turf  career,  51,  52,  91,  179-81, 

208 
Ormonde,  appearance,  294 

,,         line  of,  133,  289,  291,  292 

,,         sale  of,  8,  101 

,,         turf  career,  16,  52,  97,  208, 

293.  321,  326 
Ormonde  Plate,  159 
Orton's  "Annals  of  York  and   Don- 
caster,"  125 


Orvieto,  180,  188,  209,  272,  289,  292 
Osbech,  176  n.,  272,  290 
Osborne,  Brothers,  26 

John,    123,    138,    139,    251, 

257,  315 
,,        Jos.,  1 6,  19,  286,  293,  312, 

325 

Ossian,  257,  320 
Ossory,  140,  178 
Otter  ley,  141 
Owen,  A.  W.  M.,  189 
Oxford,  26,  289,  291 

Paddy,  21 1 
Paganini,  83,  138 
Pageant,  151,  159 
Paigle,  103 
Paisley,  216 
Palatine  Plate,  208 
Pantaloon,  328 
Park  Hill  Stakes,  133 
Parole,  12 
Parquetry,  14 
Parson  King,  26 
Partisan,  328 
Partner,  327,  330 
Patron,  276 
Paiilowitz,  328 
Payne  Stakes,  47 
Peace,  J.  F.,  238 
Peacemaker,  250 
Peacock,  D.,  251,  252 
Peck,  C,  239 

„     P.,  230,  239 

„     R.,  239,  276  n.,  301 
Pembroke  Stakes,  153 
Penitent,  299 
Penrhyn,  Lord,  56,  244 
Penrith,  123 
Pepper  and  Salt,  329 
Perdita  II.,  322 
Pero  Gomez,  307 
Persimmon,  appearance,  113,  114,  210, 

3i8 
,,  compared  with  St.  Frus- 

quin,  322-5 

„  pedigree,  303, 309, 32 1 ,322 

„  temper  of,  316 

,,  trainer,  229 

,,  turf   career,    16,    49,    87, 

89-91,  94,  98,  102,  177, 
182,  257,  260,  322,  323 
Perth,  216 
Peter  Flower,  303 
Petrarch,  208,  239,  300,  305 
Pet  worth,  81 
Peut-$tre,  51 
Phillips,  F.  W.,  237 
Philomel,  86 


346 


INDEX 


Pickering,  S.,  230 
Pickpocket,  250 
Piety,  279 
Pilgrim,  141 
Pimpeme,  242 
Piraus,  295 
Pitsford,  314 
Place's  White  Turk,  330 
Plaisanterie,  50,  51,  294 
Plantation  Stakes,  48 
Platt,  G.,  231 
Play  fair,  168 
Plebian,  316 
Plum  Pudding,  189 
Pocahontas,  296,  317 
Polly  Eccles,  14 
Ponteiract,  123 

Races,  95,  I2O,  145 
Porter,  G.,  242 

„      J.,  97,  180,  235,  236,  280,  293 
Portland,  Duke  of,  14,  93,  236,  279, 

3°5,  319 
Plate,  133,  134 
Portmarnock,  90 
Portsmouth,  80 

Park,  189,  197 
Pot-8-os,  289,  290,  297,  326 
Poulet,  328 
Powney,  J.,  237 
Pratt,  F.,  261 
Prendergast  Stakes,  51 
Preston,  156 
Pretender,  307 
Prince,  243 
Prince  Barcaldine,  241 

„       Charlie,  9,  291,  292 
Prince  Edward  Handicap,  191,  208, 278 
Prince  Rudolph,  250 
Prince  of  Wales,  38,  89,  102,  104,  109, 

169,  170,  177,  182,  228,  229,  321 
Prince  of  Wales'  Nursery,  133 
„         Plate,  137,  170 

Stakes,  65, 69,  74, 75, 

85,  103 

Prince's  Handicap,  194,  247 
Princess  Melton,  245 
Princess  of  Wales,  102 
Princess  of  Wales'  Stakes,  48,  78,  99, 

108,  177,  182,  260,  271,  323 
Princess's  Cup,  49 
Prism,  295 
Purefoy,  Captain,  220 

Queen  of  the  Meadows,  308 
Queen's  Birthday,  93,  133,  298,  325 

,,       Premium,  298 

„       Prize,  106,  190 

„       Plate  Course,  83 

„       Stand  Plate,  65,  69,  74,  75 


Racing  companies'  dividends,  175 

,,      Reports,  2 
Racehorse,  size  of,  282 
Raeburn,  182,  208,  209,  318 
Ragimunde,  211 
Raisin,  W.,  239 
Rataplan,  290,  296,  317 
Ravensbury,   182,  209,  211,  290,  291, 

299 

Rawcliffe  Ings,  125 
Red  Ensign,  248 
Redcar  Races,  120,  140,  143-5 
Regret,  182,  260,  323 
Reiff,J.,264 

,,     L.,  264-6 
Reigate,  25 
Remorse,  189 
Retreat,  298,  299 
Rhodes,  J.,  238 
Ribblesdale,  Lord,  72 
Rich,  Messrs.,  18 
Richmond  (Yorks.),  120,  122 
,,         Course,  121 
,,         Stables,  252 

Stakes,  85 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  175 
Rickaby,  261 
Ridley,  W.,  252 
Rio,  189 

Ripon,  26,  1 20,  122,  146 
Rtpponden,  168 
Riversdale,  208,  305 
Riviera,  132 
Roaring,  8,  9,  60 
Robinson,  J.,  249 

W.  T.,  12,  191,  237,  241 
Robert  the  Devil,    50,  70,    131,   132, 

290,  295 
Robson,  239 
Rochester,  26 
Rockdove,  73,  90 
Rockingham,  Lord,  141 
Roehampton,  248,  250 
Roquefort^  168,  169 
Rose,  Mr.  C.  D.,  187,  279,  305 
Rosebery,  94,  325 
Rosebery,   Lord,   131,   216,  257,  259, 

304 

Rosicrucian,  307,  308 
Rothschild,  Baron,  181 
family,  155 

„          Mr.  L.  de,  89,  182,  230 
Roughside,  266 
Rous  Course,  48,  53,  54 
,,"    Memorial  Stakes,  49,  65,  69,  74, 

75,  85,  293 
„     Plate,  134 

Rowley  Mile,  17,  34,  43,  46-8,  53,  54, 
56,  316 


INDEX 


347 


Royal  Emblem,  99 

„     Flush,  193,  232,  242 

,,     Hampton,  107,  304 
Royal  Hunt  Cup,  65,   116,  188,  211, 
232,  241,  278 

,,     mares,  286 

,,     Stakes,  50,  232 

,,     Two-year-old  Plate,  187 
Ruby  Mare,  The,  287 
Rufford  Abbey  Plate,  133 
Rush,  The,  12,  333 
Russborough,  314 
Russia,  6 1 
Rutland  Stakes,  49 
Rutlandshire  trainers,  44 
Ryan,  J.,  229 
Ryland,  Mr.  Smith,  252 

Sachs,  Mr.  E.  T.,  38 

Sadler,  A.  B.,  230 

St.  Albans,  290,  295 

St.  Angela,  317 

St.  Angela,  205 

St.  Blaise,  297,  298 

St.  Cloud  II.,  294 

St.  Elizabeth,  107 

St.  Frusquin,  appearance,  318 

, ,  com  pared  to  Persim  mon , 

322-5 

,,  pedigree,  321 

„  turf  career,  44,  48,  51, 

52,  89,  182,  260,  271, 
322,  323 

St.  Gatien,  50,  51,  70,  259,  295 
St.  George's  Stakes,  171 
St.  Gris,  96,  97 

St.  James'  Palace  Stakes,  65,  69,  74,  75 
St.  Leger,  course,  113,  126,  177 
„         distance,  16,  133 
„          Newmarket,  at,  49 
„         winners,  26,  89,  90-3,  100, 
109,  178,  180-2,  215,  228, 
229,  240,  257,  258,  260, 
272,  298,  300,  307,  308, 
310,  311,  313,  314,  316, 
320,  321,  324,  331 
day,  127-9 
St.  Marguerite,  297 
St.  Oswald  Plate,  250 
St.  Serf,  93,  210,  298,  318,  321.  322 
St.  Simon,  appearance,  317,  318 
„         pedigree,  309 
„         stud  career,   14,    107,  210, 

274,    304»    3H,    3l6~9, 

321,  322 

„         stud  fee,  274 
„         turf  career,  16,  87,  319-21, 

325 
„         value,  272 


Salford  Borough  Handicap,  207 
Salisbury,  26,  149,  153 
Sandall  Mile,  127 
Sanderson,  William,  251 
Sandown  Park,  course,  109,  183-85 
„  ,,      meetings,    77,  78,   87, 

157,  175-85 
Sainfoin,  93,  94,  131,  132,  257,  280, 

290,  295,  321 
Saraband,  16,  293,  295 
Sarcasm,  94,  95 
Scarborough,  120-2 

,,  Stakes,  52,  133 

Scarborough,  Lord,  191 
Schola,  231 
Scintillant,  100,  108 
Scotch  racing,  216 
Scott,  J.,  122,  218 

„      N.  H.,  252 
Scottish  Queen,  291 
Sea  Fog,  257 
Seabreeze,  93,  94,  105,  132,  208,  241, 

249 

Seaton  Delaval  Stakes,  216,  250 
Seclusion,  328 

Sedbury  Royal  Mare,  285,  286 
See  Saw,  5 1 

family,  328 
Sefton,  132 
Sefton,  Lord,  166 

,,      Park  Plate,  170,  270 
,,      Steeplechase,  18,  168,  171,  299 
Self-Sacrifice,  248 
Selim,  328 
Selling  Plates,  85,  86 

,,      platers,  278 
Semolina,  93,  162,  258,  319 
Severals,  39 
Shancrotha,  248 
Sharp,  Mr.  Taylor,  308,  315 
Sheen,  50,  51,  187,  303,  304,  309 
Sheet  Calendar,  I 
Sherrard,  P.,  238 

R.  G.,  244 
Sherwood,  R.,  230,  244 

T.,  244 

Sherwood  Forest,  201 
Shield's  Galloway,  327 
Shotover,  132,  297 
Shrewsbury,  122,  156,  215 
Shropshire  trainers,  244 
Siderolite,  87 
Sijfleuse,  260 

Signorina,  51,  207,  208,  319,  321 
Silver  Fox,  294 

„      Lad,  105 
Silvio,  291 
Simon  Dak,  107 
Simonian,  318,  322 


348 


INDEX 


Singleton,  80 

Plate,  85 
Sinope,  97 
Sir  Bevys,  329 

Hercules,  232,  281,  290 
Hugo,  92,  276,  290,  296 

,,      turf  career,  46,  91,  92,  94, 

131,  179-81,  244,  261 
Paul,  328 
Peter,  328 
Tatton  Sykes,  331 
Visto,  90,  91,  94,   132,   259,  260, 

308,  324,  332,  333 
Strenia,  192,  232,  242 
Sister  to  Leedes,  285 

„       Old  Country  Wench,  285,  287 
Six  Mile  Bottom,  35 
Sledmere  Stud,  276 
Sloan,  J.,  97,  107,  108,  191,  226,  253, 


255,  256,  260-6 

<il,  327 
Snake,  285,  287 


Snail,  32; 


Snap,  141 
Snowden,  J.,  135 
Soarer,  The,  19,  237 
Solar o,  132 
Solon,  331,  332 
Soltykoff,  Prince,  231 

„         Stakes,  49 
Somersetshire  Stakes,  149,  150 
Somerville  Stakes,  47,  48 
Sorcerer,  330,  331 
Southdown  Club,  152 
Southsea,  80 
Spanker,  285 
Speculation,  314,  325 
Spigot  Lodge,  252 
Spiletta,  287 

Spring  Handicaps,  187,  188 
Springfield,  290,  295 
Squirt,  205 
Stafford,  156 
Staffordshire,  25 
Stand  Plate,  134 
Stanley,  Lord,  234 
„       W.,239 
,,        Stakes,  116,  170 
Stanton  stables,  235,  244 
Sterling,  289 
Stevens,  W.  G.,  238 
Stewards'  Cup,  Goodwood,  76,  85,  152, 
232,  241 

,,        Handicap,  250 

,,        Stands,  176 
Stockbridge,  96,  153 

Races,  153,  154,  293 
Stockton,  120,  142 

„         Handicap,  143 
Stockwell  line,289~92, 295, 296, 309, 3 1 7 


Stoke,  156 

Stone,  156 

Stonebow,  256 

Strathbrook,  191 

Strathconan,  95 

Strathern,  191 

Street  Singer,  123 

Strike-a-light,  235 

Strongbow,  103 

Stud  Produce  Stakes,  48 

Subscription  Stakes,  52 

Suffolk  Stakes  Course,  56 

Sultan,  328 

Summer  Breeders'  Foal  Plate,  207 

Surefoot,  93,  179,  180,  238,  296 

Surrey  trainers,  243 

Survivor,  13 

Suspender,  295 

Sussex  Handicap,  232 

„      Stakes,  85,  140 

,,      trainers,  242,  243 
Sutelia,  231 
S-wainstone,  252 
Swann,  W.,  252 
Sweepstakes  of  ^125,  85 
Sweetmeat  line  from  Herod,  328,  329 
Swinley  Course,  72 
Sykes,  Sir  Tatton,  272 

Tartar,  327 

Tattenham  Corner,  73,  92,  107,  113, 

114,  118 

Tattersall's  Sale  Stakes,  134 
Taylor,  T.  and  A.,  241 
Telescope,  90,  308 
Tempest,  Sir  H.  Vane,  316 
Ten  Thousand  Pound  Stakes,  176-8 
Tenebreuse,  50 
Teviotdale,  251 
Thais,  229,  258 
Thebais,  133,  297 
Thirsk,  120,  122,  145,  146 

,,       Handicap,  95 
Thormanby,  328 

Three  Thousand  Guinea  Match,  310 
Throstle,  91,  131,  132,  182,  258,  300, 

305 

Thunder,  116 
Thursby,  Mr.  G.,  242 
Thursday  Plate  (Gosforth  Park),  250 
Tickhill,  191 
Timothy,  70,  297 
Tinsley,  251 
Toddington,  245 
Tortoise,  141 

Touchstone,  300,  305,  308,  309,  332 
Toxopholite,  305 
Trainers,  Duties  of,  219-24 
Tramp,  Line  of,  306-8 


INDEX 


349 


Trappist,  297 

Trayles,  70,  87 

Trent,  139,  140 

Trenton,  305,  306 

Trial  Stakes,  69,  74,  75,  319 

Trident,  329 

Triennial,  49,  69,  74,  75 

Tristan,  16,  297,  298,  319,  320 

7ra?w,  182 

Troy  Stakes,  52 

Trumpalor,  330,  331 

Turkish  horses,  282 

Two  Middle  Miles,  50,  71 

Two  Thousand  Guinea  Stakes,  9,  46, 

55.  90,  "3 
Two  Thousand  Guinea  Winners,  44, 

92,  93.  98,  104,  105,  107,  178,  209, 

227,  229,  239,  240,  258,  260,  271, 

297,  300 

Two-year-old  Stakes,  49 
T.Y.C.,  54,  56,  72,  83,  84,  146 
Tyrant,  133,  141,  307,  308 

Umpire,  208 
Uncos,  295 
Uncle  Max,  239 
Underhand,  215 
Union  Jack  Stakes,  170 
Upas,  328 
Usna,  1 68 
Utica,  314 
Uttoxeter,  156 

Vain  Duchess,  102 

Valentine's  Brook,  167 

Vampire,  94 

Vasey,  J.,-252 

Vedette,  309,  314,  315,  325,  326 

Velasquez,  93,  132,  182,  227,  242,  316, 

324 

Velocipede,  317 
Verneuil,  70 
Vespasian,  187 
Victor  Emmanuel,  138 

„      Wild,  51,  187-9,  238,  278,  324 
Victoria  Club,  39 
Visitors'  Handicap,  69 

„  »        p^te,  74,  75,  85 

Volodyovskt,  231 

ZW/a,  293 

Voltaire,  309,  313,  316,  326 

Voltigeur,  309,  313-5 

Voluptuary,  168 

Vulpio,  103 

Vyner,  Mr.,  16,  116,  122,  123,  247 

Wadlow,  Mr.,  95 
„        T.,  244 


Walker.J.  M.,  252 

Walsall,  156 

Walters,  242 

Walton,  328 

Waring,  Mr.,  103 

Warren  Hill,  39 

Warwick  Meeting,  172 

Water  Hall,  40 

Watercress,  181 

Waterhen,  242 

Watson,  J.,  230 

Watt,  Mr.,  307 

Watts,  John,  102,  103,  182,  237,  253, 

257,  260,  324 
Waugh,  C.,  230 

„       James,  219,  229 
Waxy,  289,  290,  326 
Weatherbit,  307 
Webb,    F.,    12,    205,    208,    215,    230, 

302 

Weever,  E.,  244 
Welbeck  Stud,  14,  236 
Weldon,  T.,  251,  261 
Wenlock,  292,  300 
West  Australian,  16,  330,  331,  333 
West  Dean  Stakes,  85 
Westenhanger  Meeting,  198 
Westminster,  Duke  of,  8,  94,  95,  100, 

101,  131,  140,  220,  236,  292 
Westmoreland  Plate,  133 
Whalebone,  289,  290 
Whip,  The,  52,  56,  70 
Whisker,  326,  332 
White,  244 
Whitelock,  309,  311 
Whitfield,  C.,  244 
Stud,  95 

Whitsuntide  Plate,  207,  248 
Whittier,  46,  90,  182 
Why  Not,  108,  169,  237 
Wild  Dayrell,  230,  328,  329 
Wild/lower,  240 
Wildgoose,  311 
Wild  Huntress,  189 

,,     Man  from  Borneo,  19 
Williamson,  Mr.  Billy,  314 
„     F.  A.,  95 
Wilton  Castle,  143 

,,      Welter  Handicap,  207 
Wiltshire  trainers,  239,  242 
Winchester,  26 
Windfall,  299 
Windhound,  328 
Windsor,  239,  299 

Castle  Stakes,  69,  74,  75 
„        meeting,  193,  194 
Winifreda,  260,  321 
Winkfield's     Pride,     51,     190,     241, 

324 


350 


INDEX 


Wisdom,  179,  276,  290,  296 
Wise  Virgin,  241 
Wishard,  193,  231-3 
Wokingham  Stakes,  69,  72,  74,  75 
Wolfs  Crag,  333 
Wolverhampton,  156 
Wolverton,  Lord,  228 
Wood,  Charles,  243 

„      C.,  243,  257 

»     J->  243 

Woodcote  Stakes,  48,  116 
Woodpecker,  328 
Worcester,  26,  116,  149,  295 

„          Races,  155 
Worcestershire,  25 
Worksop  Manor  Stud,  249 
Worth  Stakes,  194 
Worthing,  80 
Worton,  T.,  189,  238 
Wroughton,  242 
Wynesiuold,  249 
Wynyard  Plate,  142 


Xury,  252 
XYZ,  212 

Yarmouth  Races,  149,  155 

Yearlings,    cost   of,   and   stakes   won, 

273 

York  August  Meeting,  137 
Course,  125,  136 
Cup,  250 
Programme,  137 
Spring  Meeting,  127,  150,  157 
and  Doncaster,  Annals  of,  125 
Yorkshire  Meetings,  119,  120,  175 

Oaks,  137 
,,         training  quarters,  26,  247 

tykes,  130,  131 
Young  Giantess,  331 
,,      Melbourne,  331 

Zetland,  Lord,  122,  143,  314 

Stakes,  49,  133 
Zodiac,  317 


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